Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Beast Inside
by R334
Summary: When one of the Eva pilots gets hit by a car, the event is quickly dismissed as a mere accident however, as stranger things occur on a more frequent basis, it becomes clear that something unseen, enormous, is at hand... NEW: CH.12 AND 13 UPLOADED!
1. Chapter 01 Prologue: Between Heaven

**Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Beast Inside**

**Written by abi2301**

**Chapter 01 (Prologue)**

**v.01: 10/16/2004**

**Official disclaimer:**

The Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series are the intellectual and material property of Gainax Studios, ADVision, Inc., Shonen Ace magazine, Hideaki Anno and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. All rights reserved. The 'NGE: The Beast Inside' is a purely fictional series based upon the original NGE and written for entertainment purpose only. No money is made out of it. All themes, polemics and ideas given throughout the chapters are not to be considered as the author's opinion of society, politics, world events, miscellaneous facts and other sensible matters but rather a well-meant attempt to add more to the NGE universe by adding new layers of reality and giving an impression of what modern life and historical could be in a post-Second Impact world. The author did not mean to shock or hurt anyone and denies any attempt to discriminate, scorn or insult any potentially offended readers and would like to retain a neutral status in every matter raised throughout the series. All comments are not subjected to the author's opinions but rather his vision of how the NGE universe could be and react to certain events - especially from the characters' point of view. The rating is dubbed 'Restricted' (R) just in case any eventually shocking or disturbing element, remark or subject would show up in the later chapters.

* * *

**Chapter 01 (Prologue): Between Heaven And Hell / World Of Silence, A Fallen Messiah**

_Wer den Zweck will, will (so fern die Vernunft auf seine Handlungen entscheidenden Einfluss hat), auch das dazu unentbehrlich notwendige Mittel, das in seiner Gewalt ist. _

_Whoever wills the end, wills also (so far as reason decides his conduct) the means in his power which are indispensably necessary thereto. _

**Immanuel KANT, _Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysics of Ethics_ (1785) sect. 2 (translated by T. K. Abbott)**

_

* * *

_

_Beep-beep._

_…_

_Beep-beep. _

_…_

_Beep-beep. _

_…_

_Beep-beep._

If it weren't for the cold, electronic twin _beep_ that made itself known every second with an irritating but nonetheless comforting punctuality, one could have mused over the perfection of the silence that reigned inside the white, spotless room. For some, it had become a refuge against the horrors of life and for others, a place dreaded because of what it symbolized. Something that many feared and that was called 'pain'.

Yet, the local atmosphere wasn't one of suffering, at least in its obvious form. No convulsing, no scream or moaning was to be seen or heard…yet it still was there, in its most evil form. Hidden under the mask of death and stillness.

That place still had become for some others a place of hope, for it represented healing and comfort. A shrine where one could protect itself against everything that could cause harm. Somewhere the people of Tokyo-3 have gotten familiar with, over the last two years.

_Beep-beep._

…

_Beep-beep._

…

Orange hues washed over the quiet room, the sunlight cleft asunder by the shades and thrown all over the immaculate walls, painting unnerving patterns of black and white, giving to a possible observer the clear impression of being inside a jail. Not that it would have been wrong to think about it; in some ways, it _was_ a prison…something you could not escape from. A lengthened state, of which you know nothing at first sight, especially about its end. And that was true about the lone inhabitant of the room, who was completely oblivious of his surroundings. Which were as surprising and unusual as his current state…

Dozens of wires of all sorts were strewn across the ground, attached to enormous, rectangular, electronic towers that were set aside the single bed in the middle of the room. Screens and other high-resolution monitors showed a never-ending flux of numbers and medical acronyms scrolling down as they were constantly updated, setting parts of the room aglow with an eerie green light, that contrasted badly with the orange light from the outside. Yet, in the technological mess that invaded the area there was a subtle sense of order and of precision, one that was hidden by the obvious haste with which the whole life-monitoring network had been installed. Unknown to the human eye, the stillness that permeated all around the walls was a lie, for something invisible was actually moving from one place to the other, in a way one couldn't suspect. Hundreds of mega-octets of raw data were transiting all over the place per second, in a silent dance of electrons, traveling inside super conductive cables from processing computers up to high-capacity, holographic hard drives, where they were stored in a quantum state and sent again to another area, much better equipped than this makeshift laboratory...one that could put to shame the American NASA by the quality of its technology. Billions' worth of equipment were stored in this small room, for a single purpose…which could ultimately decide of Mankind's fate.

Ten or so high-capacity vials full of life-keeping fluids and other sophisticated control panels were to be seen, arranged all around it, as if to protect him against any further harm and provide him with a better hope of recovering from the ordeal he's been through. Ten hours ago, a flurry of doctors, nurses and emergency surgeons had flooded the area, in order to wrench him from the dark path to death, trying desperately to call him back to life. It had taken ten to twelve hours in order to stabilize him and fix his injuries, which were massive but not life-threatening. But the danger came from his weakened state that made him an easy prey for the extensive trauma he had suffered and which could easily shut down his body's resources. His heart had actually stopped for a couple of seconds on the scene of his accident, before the ambulance's crew, helped by Section-2 agents, were able to revive him by an earnest cardiac massage, followed by the more imperious calls of an electroshock treatment. He was then rushed, with great haste and zeal, deep into the bowels of the earth, into one of the world's most secret governmental complexes, in an emergency room where surgeons, assisted by top-of-the-art nanotechnology equipment, began the task of restoring his body. Nanobots immediately started stimulating his vitals, drawing hormons, fresh blood and other needed fluids into his blood circuit, in order to create a perfect environment for internal healing. A certain doctor by the name of doctor Akagi, could have related it to the primal 'soup of life', a mix of nutrients from where sprung the first forms of life, more than billion years ago.

_Beep-beep._

_Beep-beep._

The patient's marrow, 'encouraged' by electrical impulses and synthetic drugs, started pumping millions of white and red cells in his bloodstream, fighting back every little bacteria or microscopic intruder that could cause disease and irrigating his whole body with oxygen, source of life and power. Centiliters of serums, drugs and new vaccines were dumped in his innards, in order to make his organs work better without tiring them. In the end, when his vitals showed at last signs of recovery, he was plunged into an artificial coma, so that his body would become oblivious to the trauma it had just endured.

The doctors who had taken care of him couldn't but muse at the bad luck of their patient and perusing over his biological data, thinking as scientifics over his chances of total recovery. But in the bottom of their hearts, in fact, they were hoping to save one that could, in turn, save them back in the future...if life would ever allow it. The importance of their patient was of the utmost and nobody dared to prove the contrary...everybody knew who he was and what he was doing in life.

His name was lauded in countless countries, as though he was a new messiah; in others, spoken in contempt as if it was that of an antichrist's. But everyone recognized the power that, seemingly slept dormant within him...

Seemingly.

But today, reality had struck back, showing to those who had seen it directly, witnessed from afar the event or even remotely heard about it that might didn't mean invulnerability and that life...had a curious liking in showing the fragility of living beings, by shattering lives and good moods when they were the most needed or felt for the first time, breaking hopes and killing happiness in the blink of a new, without so much of an afterthought. The drama was seriously felt by the circle of friends and colleagues of this person,as they immediately felt sorry for him. A such thing shouldn't happen to him, they said. It was so unfair for him. He didn't deserve it, especially after everything he went through. He deserved much better.

And instead of walking in light and in glory, now, he was slowly creeping, in silence and darkness, towards death or, for the moment, drifting in an area between two states, one in which most reveled and the other, from which nobody ever returned.

_Beep-beep._

_Beep-beep._

In that small bed, covered in bandages and his body fed in various places by intravenous needles, surrounded by vitals' information-gathering equipment, laid, unconscious and unmoving, the lifeless form of Shinji Ikari...

_**

* * *

**_

_**To be continued...**_


	2. Chapter 02: Downfall of an Angel Lookin...

**Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Beast Inside **

**Written by abi2301**

**Chapter 02 **

**v.01: 10/17/2004**

**Official disclaimer:**

The Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series are the intellectual and material property of Gainax Studios, ADVision, Inc., Shonen Ace magazine, Hideaki Anno and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. All rights reserved. 'NGE: The Beast Inside' is a purely fictional series based upon the original NGE and written for entertainment purpose only. No money is made out of it.

* * *

**Chapter 02: Downfall of an Angel / Looking Back**

_History is the sum of all the things that could have been avoided._

**Konrad ADENAUER (1876-1967)**

* * *

"So, nothing new, I suppose?" asked a weary voice, strained from worry and fatigue.

The head of the Section-2 which was assigned to the important staff's security shook his head, repeating what he had done at least a dozen times over the last fourteen hours, just after the Third Child's accident. Which had caused quite a panic in the whole organization. Such a thing never had occurred before and unseen problems and other incidents, most of which included lack of cooperation and communication, had worsened the situation. Which nearly escalated into a major information crisis inside NERV's chain of command. What had happened to the third? Is he still alive? Who was taking care of him right now? Was S2 taking over? Was it an accident or a terrorist attack? Such questions had remained unanswered for a couple of hours, until more and more realtime data had arrived and allowed the current shift's staff to lower the state of alertness.

"No, no witnesses have been found...all the individuals onsite were just able to see a black sedan speeding off down the 38th avenue but were unable to memorize the plate number or even see it. And none saw, I mean, _directly_, the accident taking place. They were not looking directly at the Third so they don't know if the car hit him on purpose or if it truly was an accident."

In front of him, hands joined and tightly pressed on her forehead in order to lessen her growing headache, Major Misato Katsuragi was having a hard time trying not to yell at the man before her. Everything in his demeanor irritated her. His cool attitude, his detached tone which made sound as if Shinji's accident was nothing more than an unimportant event that would soon be forgotten…she was actually trying not to lunge at him and rip his face apart for his insensitivity and inefficiency. Ever since Shinji got hit by this car…she had been submitted to an incredible amount of pressure, which threatened to break her already fragile mind apart. As if the Angels weren't enough…that driver had decided to play 'Need For Speed' in Tokyo-3's streets and nearly crush Shinji under his wheels.

"So we do not know what happened, in a nutshell."

"No", came the indifferent reply. Which aggravated her more. "We don't know if it's your average road hog or if it's a deliberate attack upon one of the pilots. The video cameras installed all over that area have been somewhat damaged during the fight against the last Angel and haven't been replaced since…so we've got no visual data from that area. We're basically dealing with a ghost."

Misato sighed deeply before asking her next question. She really needed a beer and get the mother of all hangovers. But in times like this, she couldn't. Other priorities took over. "What's our current threat board?"

"Nothing unusual", the S2 agent answered, looking at a folder full of papers that he held under his arm. "Apart from fanatics that believe that the Angels are God's messengers or that we've created demons…anarchists that think that NERV must be taken down because of the power it represents, plus other terrorists that would love to see mayhem reigning in Tokyo-3 and seize control of the government…nothing special. Plus, we don't have any Intelligence Alert right now, so we think it might be either a road hog...as you said or a individual acting alone."

_Nothing special? I would gladly rip you a new one for the atmosphere you're creating, asshole! Shinji's our only hope of survival apart from Rei and Asuka and you're treating it as if it were a simple problem!_ Misato screamed mentally, forgetting about the pain that seared through her brain and letting her rage flow inside her instead of outside. She wanted to go berserk, just like Eva Unit 01 and take out her rage at something that would help to calm her…but as NERV's commander of operations, she had appearances to keep. Flaws and weaknesses to hide.

"Very well. You're dismissed."

The S2 spook turned on his heel and headed out of the room, leaving Misato to look intently at the mug of coffee and the stack of papers that stood and laid on her desk. The silence, a couple of seconds later was suddenly broken, as a loud crash finally announced the release of the Major's long pent-up rage. The cleaning crew would later find a floor littered with various papers and covered with spilt coffee.

-

"Asuka?" came the gentle call.

The red-headed German snapped out of her reverie and stared out at the freckled face of her friend, who stood in front of her. It would be a couple of minutes before the teacher would show up for another speech about Second Impact, so she could, for the time being, lay down her role as CR and get a few private things done…like gossiping with friends.

"Yes, Hikari?"

"How's Shinji?"

"He's still in the hospital", she grumbled. She wanted to say out loud that the famed Third Child was an idiot for having been hit by a car, but she knew that it was unfair to insult or berate someone that wasn't in the condition to reply. "Misato called this morning. He's stabilized but we don't know yet about his status and when he'll come back."

"I see…" replied sadly Hikari Horaki, the long appointed class representative of class 2A and who had the reputation of having, as the saying goes, 'a hand of steel in a glove of silk'. The strong, silent and responsible type, that could silence even the most difficult students of class 2A, including two individuals, labeled 'Stooges' by a familiar redhead. "Kensuke told us that he's in one of your underground hospital...so I guess we cannot visit him."

"He broke into his father's computer, once again, eh?" Asuka sneered, thinking about the bespectacled geeky computer nerd that always hung around Shinji and Touji.

"…Maybe. Well, that's how he gets so much information about NERV, you know. If it's not for his father talking out loud during dinner."

"Humph. Like father, like son, I guess..." she commented with as much venom in her voice.

"Who are you talking about, Devil?" asked a familiar voice behind her.

"Speaking of which…"

Toji Suzuhara came behind her, slightly limping because of his prosthetic leg, a scowl deepening as he neared the German's place. "I hope you're not talking about Shinji, right...?" he growled. As much as he didn't dare to face the Second Child's legendary wrath, he couldn't stand the idea of hearing his buddy being insulted, especially in his current state. Even if he was again the cause of another physical drama in his family. First his sister, now him. But he had apologized and explained everything, at the hospital, just before the fourteenth showed up. Being the kind-hearted individual that hid behind his usual 'tough guy' looks, he had accepted his apologies and held now no grudge against him. He knew that Shinji, in a way, was more screwed than him. Not physically, but mentally.

"No, Touji" reassured Hikari, waving her hand as a sign of peace. "No, but we were discussing earlier his current state."

"And...?"

"He's okay…for now…" grumbled Asuka…whose mood had darkened considerably since Touji showed up.

"He'll get out of it, I know it" said somebody near Touji. Somebody whose appearance didn't help to clear Asuka's already thunderous mind. Kensuke Aida, designated second stooge, had once again dared to come near her, with his infuriating and ever-present video camera. She didn't know why he always recorded everything around him. It was as if everything would fade away just when he would push the 'OFF' button. Which is, in a way, she reflected, something that could verily and credibly happen given our time. "Don't forget who we're talking about" he pointed out without taking the lens off his eye. "It's our Shin-man, eh? Nothing can defeat him!"

Touji's and Hikari's eyes winced inwardly at the comment and they both took a step back, knowing about the redhead's attitude and feelings about the Third Child. Using the word 'invincible' and the name 'Shinji Ikari' in the same sentence was like trying to dance samba with a hungry polar bear. The consequences were both dreadful. In a matter of seconds, Asuka Langley Soryu nearly became ballistic, with Kensuke as her target. But she did not, at the price of a great deal of self-control. But her face went as red as the armor of her assigned mechanic, Unit 02 and the frown on her usually graceful features deepened onto a scowl that many had come to dread, for it meant pain and suffering…instant beating. But instead, to vent her boiling anger, she chose one of her other weapons.

"No, indeed. Shinji Ikari will – once again – save the day!" And with that she got up, and much to the surprise of her schoolmates that expected an outburst of tremendous dimensions, stormed out of the class, just as the teacher finally came in.

Hikari glared at Kensuke. Seeing her friend upset at such a moment did not make her happy, too. She would have to talk to her later and try to soothe her anger. Maybe she could arrange a slumber party or something like that. She couldn't afford her to once again become the extremely mean and depressed person she once was when she started losing against the Angels and remembering awful memories that she had tried so long to bury deep into the darkest parts of her mind. It had nearly led her to suicide. Touji scowled at his fellow stooge. It could have been prevented…it wasn't that he didn't care about what the German redhead felt, but he didn't want to make a mess of a situation…especially now. Kensuke lowered his camera as a silent sign of apology and dropped his head, unable to face his two other friends.

And thus began another day with the morning ritual call, made of three specific orders:

"Rise, bow, sit!"

But one of them wouldn't join them today. For he was still fighting for his life in a hospital bed, three hundred meters beneath ground level.

-

"What's his status?"

"Massive head trauma, possibly caused by his fall onto the sidewalk, some internal bleeding in the same region – the left parietal bone and the occipital. We still don't know if his brain was affected. He might have had a light hemorrhage on his left hemisphere but I don't think it was serious. His two legs are however broken but fortunately his kneecaps are intact, which means that he'll be able to walk again. There are some damage done to his basin, nothing we can't mend and some internal bleeding, too, in these regions. Ah, and he _did_ have open wounds on his legs, but not as serious as we thought. It could've been worse, believe me. He has broken some of his ribs, too, maybe he was projected onto something that might have hurt his chest. We've found some cracks in his radius' and he'll have to wear some casts there so that he'll heal properly. But that's not what's important."

"No?" asked Misato Katsuragi, surprise and outrage evident in her voice. How could that not be important?

"No" replied Doctor Ritsuko Akagi, looking back at a couple of X-ray pictures on her desk. "What's more important is his _ability_ to heal. His whole body's down. _That's_ what took so much time to fix in the ER, Misato. His body is weakened, probably from stress and fatigue. Not to mention the fact that he's been acting depressed since a month or two. And God knows the state of mind has something to do with our vitals."

"A month or two?" scoffed Misato. "Okay, okay…maybe longer…okay…surely longer than that" Ritsuko amended. "But that means that his recovery time will be longer and that we'll have to hook up our life-assist machines up the maximum of their capabilities. We cannot afford to have him in the hospital when the situation about the Angels is so unclear right now."

Misato agreed. "Yeah…oh my God….I REALLY need a beer. Right NOW!" she said, putting a hand on her head and starting to feel really down, too.

Ritsuko couldn't but feel sympathy towards the Major. Having one of her friends…no, surrogate family member, in the hospital was not something happy, along with the fact that she had responsibilities towards NERV to keep… "Come on, it'll be okay. Shinji's strong. He doesn't show it, but he's strong." She patted Misato's back, comfortingly. _And he'll probably be stronger than that when he'll come out of here, she thought._ But her own voice, in her mind, was not as caring as before. It was as cold as the devoted scientist that she was. She had a task to perform. A purpose that she didn't like but that she couldn't refuse, either.

"You should get some sleep, Misato. Go back home, I'll call HQ and tell them you took the day off."

"Thanks..." was the weak answer from the Major.

As she made her way towards the elevator, the doctor couldn't but sadly reflect on the hurts that were and those to come.

_Poor Misato. She doesn't know that it's only the beginning. _

And she turned, not heading towards the downed pilot's room as she previously intended to do, but towards a secluded place, deep inside Terminal Dogma.

-

_Tack_.

A white pawn went up two cases.

"So…it's been done."

"Yes. According to the devised plan."

_Tack_.

A black pawn soon followed, but up one case only.

"The staff must have taken it hard, I suppose."

"As predicted. It's a risk we have to take, but I'm sure our gamble will be fructuous."

"Ah. Yes" sighed Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki, who took one of his bishop and moved it slightly higher.

"Phase one has been achieved flawlessly."

"I suppose the whole investigation will lead to a dead end, isn't it?"

"Indeed" came the cold reply. Orange-tinted glasses flashed in the darkness.

_Tack_.

A second white pawn came forth, towards the oncoming battle.

"No witnesses, no proof, nothing. A ghost, like one of our agents said earlier."

"Indeed" Commander Gendo said, with a slight smirk playing on his lips. Another scheme to add to his extremely long list. But this one was more dangerous than the others for it could easily come out of hand and backfire. But if he played his cards right, he could control the source of the problem…which was a particular individual.

"When will phase two begin?"

"In less than forty-eight hours. He's in a coma…so…we can begin whenever we want."

_Forty-eight hours before a life changes forever…and a new dream…or nightmare? unfolds_, grimly thought the gray-haired Sub-Commander. _How many crimes must we commit in order to reach for the skies, for the place we have lost near God's holy throne?_ He looked upwards, gazing at Athanasius Kircher's Tree of Sephiroth, the highly symbolic Tree of Life. The Kabbalah. Ten circles of life linked between each other by twenty-two lines…the twenty-two paths to happiness.

_But there's one slight catch, here, Ikari_, thought Fuyutsuki. _We're not searching for happiness. We're longing for godhood. _

But once again, the cold voice of his once student once again spoke inside his mind.

_It doesn't matter as long as we could use it for our scenario. _

The end always justified the means.

_Tack_.

-

Red eyes gazed at the sidewalk, at the intersection of the 38th avenue and the 49th street. A patch of red was still present on the cold, neatly chiseled stone...nobody had bothered to wash it yet and it was still there, as a sadistic reminder of the dangers a walker could risk when criminal drivers were on the loose. Those same red eyes seemed to travel up six meters, up to the very point where the Third Child got injured twenty-four hours ago.

Nobody paid attention to the silent bystander that seemed to meditate about something deep inside her soul, even though some turned to look at her unusual hair color and wonder about it. Most would attribute it to the new generation's curious fashion and go on. But none would stop to ask her what she was doing. But more would have remembered her if they had locked gazes with her, getting the chance to stare into deep orbs of crimson that seemed to see through your very soul...delving into your deepest secrets.

The girl sighed, a surprising sign of emotion that few have ever seen...if any of the passersby had been one of her few acquaintances, they would have been shocked to see such a behavior. No one, even Shinji Ikari, had ever seen Rei Ayanami sigh.

Once again, her eyes bore into the surface of tar, as if questioning it, trying to wrench from it an unlikely answer...as if it would give her an answer to her questions. Questions that she would never ask the Commander, the individual she trusted most after Shinji Ikari.

_It's been one day now. That's where he's been hit. There's still blood here. I hate that color. Red. I hate it. A road. Thousands of people pass through it every day. Like a journey. But where does it lead? Pilot Ikari nonetheless was hurt here. On his way. He must have bled a lot seeing the amount of blood. He must have suffered. What if he dies? He cannot be replaced. Unlike... _

Suddenly she found herself riddled with a new question, one triggered by her own questioning of her behavior.

_Pilot Ikari's accident is really obsessing me. I can't stop thinking about it. Why? Why do I need to know about him? About what happened? Does it matter? If so, why? Why do I need to know? What for? I must really be worried about him. Why? I don't know. I guess it's because he's close to me. As a person and as...a colleague, I suppose. What I feel...is it...caring? _

Rei's slightly widened as she mentally uttered this word. One whose meaning she doesn't know.

_What's caring? Is it wanting to making sure somebody doesn't get hurt? Is it...Pilot Ikari...he called me...a friend...is it because of that? Or is it more? Do friends feel it or can you feel it without them? I've never felt it before, apart from the commander. But...it's not the same thing...he cares...but...there's something else. A friend. What's a friend? I've never had any or anybody to call him so. What are these feelings? Is it because Pilot Ikari and the others...cared...for me? They helped me to build my social skills even though I don't need them, since Commander Ikari deemed it irrelevant. Is it because they cared for me? Or is it because I feel something else? _

As she asked herself that last question, she found herself thrown into a whirlwind of uncertainty...which borders on fear. Fear of not knowing. Fear of not knowing what she was feeling right now.

_What do I feel? _

_What do I feel? _

_Longing? No. _

_Fear? I don't think so. _

_Dreading? _

_Yes. That's the word. Dreading. Something's wrong and I'm waiting for it to come. _

Her last thought, before she leaves the scene, wasn't an optimistic one.

_Something is building up. And it will bring us no good. _

-

"Is the shot ready?" a voice asked in the darkness.

"It is. We have the samples of both of them. The cells have been bathed in a richly nutrient liquid, which means that the probability of seeing them integrating their new environment without problem is higher than that of using cells taken without further treatment."

"Obviously."

"Tests with the LCL and Angel blood as receptor environments have proven to be quite disappointing...but with human blood, the results are astounding. It nearly provides us with an infinity of possibilities...something I've never seen before; it's even better than the Eleventh Angel's evolution matrix. The samples' compatibility with human blood is nearly 100. As if our own source of life had been specifically made for _that_ purpose."

"In a way, it _is_..." admitted the voice.

"What?" nearly screamed Ritsuko Akagi in surprise. The implications were...

"I do not need to explain myself. It...simply...is. And we'll use it."

The voice suddenly hardened, as if wanting to end the discussion.

"Enough time lost. Prepare yourself for phase two, Doctor."

"Yes, Commander."

-

"That _dummkopf_!"

A dozen more expletives broke the silence that blessed a few minutes earlier a little apartment in the borders of Tokyo-3, announcing the return of a familiar redhead. In an obviously bad mood.

"How dare he?" she snarled, nearly throwing her bag at a nearby window but deciding instead to drop it on a couch and to plop beside it. "How dare he utter his name when...when..." She found her voice being quenched by her own rage. _When he...when he's... _

Asuka Soryu Langley took her head between her hands, slowly beginning to hate the reinstated silence. The Invincible Shinji. She hated that nickname. It was a reminder of her failures, of all the pain she had to endure to become the best Eva pilot and suddenly see her fame and glory blown away by a rookie that owned most of his kills to a mechanic that went out of control. _It wasn't even him who killed those Angels! It was the Eva!_ she raged mentally, screaming silently to her inner world, as an excuse to her weakened state. _I HATE HIM_. I HATE HIM. I hate him. I...

Her breathing became more and more shallow.

_I... _

_I cannot. _

She sighed in frustration but soon leaned back on the couch, as if she had lost a great deal of her strength in a terrible battle.

_I cannot anymore. I'm tired. I'm tired of all this_. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about her current state. She was on the path of a new mental breakdown and she knew what was the cause of it. Shinji. Always him. After the fifteenth Angel had attacked her, he had gone up to the roof to check up on her...only to find her filled with rage and self-loathing, pushing him back with venom-filled comments. He had stayed, paralyzed, not knowing what to do, the dummkopf...and to say the least, she had then thought that he was standing up to himself, finally showing some spine...which only had enraged her further. But he had stayed, looking at her back with hurt-filled eyes, not daring to answer or to make a single move, taking the brunt of her insults. And that was when she broke down, finally letting her tears fall down and shattering a very, very old promise made to one of her relatives.

And that was, too, when Shinji finally decided to do something. It was maybe the sight of her in tears that finally decided him to make a move towards her, drawing his arms around her in a soothing gesture, whispering awkward but comforting words in her ears. She had weakly tried to push him back, but she was exhausted by her recent ordeal...and she could only do one thing: relinquish herself to her teammate's embrace...finally, after all those years...letting someone get under her armor and letting him care for her.

That had been, she now thought, her mistake. She had enjoyed that moment. She had never admitted it to him, but it had reminded her of a time when someone would take her in his arms and chase all of her worries away. A time swept away by the horrors of fate. But she still held her defenses against him. He had seen her weak; he could use that as a weapon against her, or so she thought. So she slowly let go of him as she got stronger again. She didn't need a walking stick on the path of life.

A boyfriend? She didn't need any...but she desperately longed for one, in her most secret dreams. One in which she could confide, release all of her pain and not worry anymore. Not a pervert but one that would admit her own freedom and right to do whatever she wanted. One upon which she would not depend but rather one upon which she could find support and love. One that would bring her happiness and good memories, not pain and nightmares. But she had to admit that these last months had been more agreeable than ever before. The acoustic level had somewhat decreased in the Soryu/Ikari/Katsuragi apartment. The two pilots didn't fight as much as before...as if a unspoken truce had been declared between them. That rather surprised their guardian, but, as long as it didn't make her life and her work worse...well, she thought that it couldn't hurt to see her 'children' being more civil towards each other...especially after those hellish weeks during which they had to deal with more and more problems...some private...others professional.

_Shinji will save the day_. Even though her grudge against him had lessened, that sentence still upset her. Deeply. It was a cruel reminder of what she couldn't do. No matter no what, she would never match his skills or whatever made the Third Child so damn strong and powerful - as an Eva pilot, since he still was a wuss when you considered him as an individual. He cowered when people started to blame or look angry at him, he apologized every time...but he was kind, gentle of heart. In short, a perfect boyf...humph, I_ SAID THAT? Forget it! I am not in love with this spineless, wimpy-looking stuttering stooge, even if...even if... _

Images of a berserker Eva Unit 01 came back to her mind, along with one she still cherished. When she had fought the eighth Angel, in the Mount Asama volcano, Sandalphon...when Shinji had caught her and prevented her from sinking down into the depths of Earth, risking painful death by jumping down into red-hot lava without as much protection as the standard multi-layered combat armor. He had then been, but not for long, her knight in shining armor, defying death in order to keep her alive and well. She still dreamt of it.

"Damn it, Shinji..." she finally managed to croak, as a lone tear slowly made up its path from the brim of her eye down to the curve of her tender cheek. "Why do you always hurt us...even when it's you who suffers the most?"

The silence of the apartment was the only answer life deigned to give her.

-

Down in Central Dogma, a lone figure found itself muttering in front of a God.

"What have we done, Yui?"

The question silently left the old lips of Sub-Commander Kouzou Fuyutsuki, never to return with an answer...for his interlocutor was not one gifted with speech. Or at least human speech. Unit 01 was what it was. A monster tamed by Mankind in order to force open the Gates of Heaven, and let Humanity, united as one, finally rest in the gardens of the Almighty, reclaiming what was once his. But he knew that, hidden beneath this incredible, feral, bloodthirsty and one-minded beast, was a clear, conscious mind. One that belonged once to one of the world's most intelligent persons. One that had left our plane of existence a lone time ago.

"Have we forsaken what we needed most?"

His eyes couldn't help but trace over the 'teeth' of the metallic helm, which made look like the Eva was grinning madly at him, mocking Mankind's state, as if knowing, inwardly, what was in store for them.

"Where's our humanity, Yui? Have we lost it in Second Impact? I thought it was just a punishment for our crimes, as the scrolls foretold... What have we become?"

Fuyutsuki swore he heard a very, very low growl coming out of the mechanic's throat, something not even Gendo ever witnessed here, in the bowels of NERV. Still, the Sub-Commander remained unfazed, as if naturally expecting that kind of behavior from a titanic being that was supposed to be soulless and completely under Man's control.

"Monsters? Are we better than the Angels?"

This time, the Eva's eyes seemed to glow, but Fuyutsuki dismissed it as a game of light.

"At least Lilith didn't torture her children or meddle with their business..." he muttered under his breath.

"This will end in tears, I fear."

-

"Are the life systems ready?"

"Yes, sir" replied Dr. Akagi as she checked some of the EEG data and searched for any sign of unusual activity that would signal the patient's return to consciousness. Nothing. He still was in an artificial coma, his brain's activity frozen but still revolving over the body's most primal and vital functions and struggling to maintain them.

"Very well. Let's proceed" ordered the ever-composed Gendo Ikari. The Supreme Commander of NERV, one of the most feared men on Earth looked at the still form of his son, taking in the sight of his head wrapped in gauze and surrounded by electrodes that recorded the electrical activity in his brain, his chest buried in a cast made of plaster and heavy bandages, through which went various intravenous needles and other wires, and his legs, confined in a sort of 'healing chamber', where they were plunged in a nutrient liquid, which gave them a sensation close to zero gravity. They floated, with no pressure applied against them. Metal rods were placed on his legs, so that the broken bones would re-grow and fuse together. Whilst Dr. Akagi winced every time she took a glance at her 'patient' - after all, she knew that person and knew what he'd looked like some hours earlier, when was still fit and on his feet, healthy-Gendo Ikari kept his usual 'stone face'. It was clear that his son's status did not matter to him...not if it wasn't useful to him. And it was right now.

Dr. Akagi stared at Shinji's sleeping face. _He looks like an angel_, she thought, biting her lower lip. _He seems so peaceful like that...like he doesn't have to worry about anything...like troubles did not matter to him anymore...after all, he's somewhere where they couldn't reach him. He'd found peace. But for how long? _

"Prepare the shot."

"Yes, sir."

The two were alone in the hospital room. They had given clear orders to be left alone and placed a couple of S2 agents at the door so that nobody unwanted would come in. No witnesses apart from them. Just what they needed. Fuyutsuki had declined to come, saying that it was not that important, but Dr. Ritsuko Akagi suspected that the old man couldn't bear to see his old student and now superior using once again his son as a tool for his dark designs...and doing something Yui Ikari wouldn't have done. Another insult to her. But Fuyutsuki wouldn't dare say that to the Commander. It was not needed, it was not safe and he would not succeed.

_Beep-beep. _

_Beep-beep. _

_This sound is starting to creep me out_, thought Ritsuko Akagi as she took a syringe filled with an orange fluid and removed the protection cap. _What if it stops when I'll be done with the injection? It's the sound of life, but still...why am I thinking about death right now? It's not that I'm going to kill him...quite the opposite_. With that, she took a determined step towards the bed and readied herself and her 'patient' for the shot.

Behind her, Supreme Commander Gendo Ikari did something really unnerving to those who got the chance to see it.

He smiled.

She took the limp arm of Shinji Ikari and held it up, searching at the crook of the elbow for a suitable vein. She found one that would suit perfectly for her purpose. If she injects the fluid right there, the bloodstream would carry straight back to the heart, where it would, then, be redistributed to the whole body. _You're at the point of non-return, Ritsuk_o, came the unearthly voice of her deceased mother. _Once you go in, you cannot return. Choose wisely. _

She took a deep breath and, without an afterthought so that she wouldn't regret a possible hesitation later, she plunged the thin needle into the pulsing vein.

And gave the unconscious Shinji Ikari the dreaded shot.

Behind her, satisfied with the job finally carried over, the 'patient's' father smirked, mentally yelling with glee.

His plans were coming to fruition.

A lot sooner than he thought.

But his own tool, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, couldn't but feel a cold breeze running down her spine. As if a terrifying realization was dawning on her.

_Beep-beep. _

_Beep-beep. _

She went back to the monitors and searched for something wrong amongst the flow of numbers that sped down the screen. Nothing unusual. Heart rate index had risen by 023,45. Predictable. She just gave the shot and the body reacted to the intrusion. Shinji could wake up, now...his coma was no more needed. Thus his ECG change was irrelevant. She shook her head and looked at a different screen, one that was separated from the others and which showed a very specific program.

One that analyzed the genome's matrix and its composition.

_In less than two days... _

She couldn't help herself to finish that sentence as she felt her heart being crushed by the last amount of humanity left in her tormented being.

_What have I done? Well, did I have a choice, by the way? Will it be for the best? Time will tell. _

_Time will tell. _

_That is...if we still have any left. _

She didn't know that she had just made Shinji Ikari's life a living hell.

_**

* * *

**_

_**To be continued... **_

**

* * *

**

**A/N:**

In this series you won't see much personal notes, only technical ones or some miscellaneous facts that can give some additional information input to the story itself - but for once, I'll post here a note about me and the fic.

First, I'd like to thank those who have reviewed the 'TBI' series. Your support was deeply welcome, since it's my first fic and I am eager to see the response from the reader community and eventually learn from it. Second, I have encountered during the last few days a lot of problems with especially about its pen name database, which told me that the name 'abi' was already taken even though I had written 'abi2301' in the registration form - quite silly, if you ask me. And when I tried to change it by, say, putting the 'abi' letters in uppercase configuration, it still didn't accept - so I had to settle for 'ABIMP', and the system won't now accept 'abi2301' back. This was just the first of my problems, as most of the formatting of my documents was completely ruined when it was uploaded by QuickEdit, which I have now taken to curse to the ninth hell when I wake up in the morning. Double line breaks disappearing, some characters like the inverted and normal backslash that disappear - the separation mark (a single - ) between the various parts of the fic was in fact composed of three inverted backslashes, followed (after a single space) by three dashes (or hyphens, whatever) and finally (again after a single space) by three normal backslashes. That 'symbol' I since used as a 'subchapter' break mark, was swallowed up by QuickEdit - the same fate seems to have befallen some of my symbols like the asterisk or the double hyphen, which finally got out in the form of a single hyphen (I use the double hyphen inside a sentence to break its pattern and insert digressions or little parts that would, otherwise, have been written between brackets). And as for the right alignment of the names under the quotes and the 'to be continued' message?QuickEdit ignored it. Also, something that will bother me a lot when I'll get to later chapters since they seem to grow longer by the day, is the fact that interrogation or exclamation marks just before a quote sign seems to strangely disappear when uploaded. For example, "Hey?" or "Hey!" become respectively "Hey" and "Hey" - those who reviewed before I came back to correct the errors might now what I'm talking about -theoretically they're all goneasI am speaking but I might find a couple of them in the future if I ever decide to come back and search around with a microscope.I'm only nineteen and I already have the beginnings of an ulcer because of it - I even started to consider converting to satanism just to get rid of those...annoying quirks, for lack of a better and more decent term.

Anyway, for those who would like to have the chapters in their original format, in .HTML, just drop me an e-mail. You'll easily find the link above in my personal profile. Feel free, too, to read a bit about me. You might find a thing or two that might interest you...or not. Oh, by the way, my project 'RIP' is on hold for the moment, until I finish those two chapters (namely 10 and 11) of 'TBI' and find some time to think about what I might do about the storyline - just to warn you. Chapt. 10 is coming along quite obediently, even though university has somewhat stopped me mid-stride in my will to go forward as life is becoming more and more hectic. Anyway, I'll try to find a way to practice spin control, as some people put it at home.

Thank you for your attention, and good reading.

abi2301, also known as 'abimp'


	3. Chapter 03: Wait For Me Shedding Tears

**Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Beast Inside**

**Written by abi2301**

**Chapter 03**

**v.01: 10/18/2004**

Official disclaimer: the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series are the intellectual and material property of Gainax Studios, ADVision, Inc., Shonen Ace magazine, Hideaki Anno and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. All rights reserved. 'NGE: The Beast Inside' is a purely fictional series based upon the original NGE and written for entertainment purpose only. No money is made out of it.

* * *

**Chapter 03: Wait For Me / Shedding Tears**

_It is never right to do wrong or to requite wrong with wrong, or when we suffer evil to defend ourselves by doing evil in return._

**SOCRATES, In Plato _Crito_, 49d**

_He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you._

**Friedrich NIETZSCHE, _Jenseits von Gut und Böse_ (1886) ch. 4, no. 146**

_

* * *

_

_Silence._

_Peace._

_I feel like floating here._

_Is it because I feel light or...because I do not feel anything else?_

In the feverish mind of Shinji Ikari's head, a train of confuse thoughts makes slowly its way, bringing along with it random images, of times and places long forgotten. Scenes flash inside his head, unbidden, forcing him to reminisce the darkest moments of his life and others less despairing but without joy, too. His friends and relatives' voices echo, endless waves of memories crashing against the crumbling rock that is the Third Pilot's psyche. He could see, as clearly as before, the back of his departing father, after his mother's passing, going to new Tokyo-03, never to return...the time when he took that old, rusted and tireless bike from that dump site, before being stopped by a policeman who assumed that he'd stolen it. His first sight of Major Misato Katsuragi. The second when the Third Angel broke his arm, sending courses of pain through his already stressed nerves. Every dark or disturbing experience of his life.

_I hear nothing, here._

_Where am I?_

_Where am I?_

Panic slowly started to seep in his mind, already weakened by his ordeal and the previous dramas that nearly tore apart his artificial 'family'. The unknown was unbearable. He couldn't see, couldn't hear...couldn't even FEEL what was around him. Only darkness, punctuated by unwanted flashbacks and visions of himself floating...inside a tunnel...towards a blinding light in front of him.

_What?_

_Am I dead?_

The thought would have, at least if the body was still fully linked to the brain, sent tremors of terror through his limbs. He had, for a time, longed for that state. Having no relatives apart from an uncaring father, an indifferent aunt and uncle and last but not least a VERY pampered cousin, nearly drove him mad...but he showed no signs of it. He couldn't confide in his tutor. He wouldn't understand. So he buried everything inside of him, hoping to chase the pain away from him...without success. A boy without future, without _purpose_...that's what he deemed himself to be, before that fateful day in Tokyo-3, where he met his father for the first time in years...just before going topside to fight an Angel. He _had_ wanted to commit suicide and end everything but he couldn't make the final step...he didn't dare do it. And now...death scared him to no end.

_Is that how you feel, once you're dead? Nothingness?_

_I don't want to be dead!_

_I don't want to be dead!_

_Father!_

_MOTHER!_

_HELP ME!_ his mind screamed to the void that surrounded him.

Voices once again came back to haunt him.

_I have a purpose for you._

_It's the city you have defended, Shinji._

_Why did you come?_

_Hey, stupid Shinji!_

_Sorry, newcomer, but I needed to do it._

_There's nothing left of her. All's in my heart._

Touji punching him, Asuka berating him, Misato teasing him, his commander glaring at him from behind those intimidating orange glasses... The Third, with his clawed hands and particle beam weapons in his palms. The Fourth, with its insect-like appearance and its whip-like appendages. The Fifth, a double translucent pyramid that threatened to blast every moving thing into smithereens. The Sixth, then the seventh...up to the last one...the one who had caused him more harm than his predecessors. Tabris, the Angel of Free Will, also known to Mankind as Kaworu Nagisa, designated Fifth Child.

The ashen face, covered in blood because of its fate at the hands of Eva Unit 01, suddenly seemed to hover in front of him, the bangs of gray hair hiding his eyes. Slowly, the downcast figure seemed to straighten up, towards the confused Third Child...a progressive gesture that filled the injured boy with dread...and as he finally locked gazes with the Seventeenth Angel, Shinji Ikari couldn't but let loose a blood-curling scream. His protagonist's crimson eyes no longer had any irises or pupils. They were blood red, shining with an unnatural glow that reminded him of his previous fights. The dismembering of Eva Unit 03.

Nagisa's lips wavered, as if hesitating about what to say, but finally cracked open, uttering a single sentence that sent chills throughout the Third Child's crippled body.

_I like you._

If he had had a physical body to move around in this area of his mind, he would have spun around and run away, screaming in pure terror. Frightened by things that seemed to eternally plague his mind and never let him go. They seemed to materialize all around him, preventing him from escaping his mental torture, blocking the ways out. His demons had come back to haunt him. His own blood was nearly churning because of all the agitation.

His cries echoed endlessly in this immaterial realm, first signs of the pain that would inflict itself upon him...for the next few months.

-

Nurse Amamiya was busy writing on her chart when she heard a soft rustle behind her. Surprised by the interruption of the silence, she spun on her heel and looked around, searching for the sound's source. Her eyes finally fell on the once-peaceful face of the Third Child, which was now marred with a frown that seemed to deepen as minutes flew by.

She took one or two steps towards the bed and looked for changing life-signs. She took his pulse and found, surprisingly, that it was beating fast. And that his body's temperature was burning. Amamiya frowned, as if fearing the worse. Twenty-four hours ago, the patient was in a coma...and now...it seemed that he was coming back to life. But not in a good way.

Pilot Shinji Ikari was suffering a severe fever.

She looked at the monitors on the side of the bed and checked both the EEG and the ECG. What she saw made her gasp. The changes were so sudden and so radical that she couldn't believe what was happening. The graphs were going off-scale. The feed on the EEG nearly made her believe that the boy was in the middle of an epilepsy attack. And the EEG? _My God...it's as if this boy's running the marathon!_ His blood pressure was extremely high, too. Diastole and systole were beyond the normal since the heart was beating mad in the Third Child's fragile chest. The nurse took a step back, as if not believing what was in front of her. Two minutes before, everything had been _fine_. Nothing special. But now...it was as if an evil spirit had infected the electronic network that sprawled across the room and madethe systemsgo haywire. She had turned off that irritating ECG speaker a moment ago and didn't hear to pilot going into a new ordeal. She blinked a few times, her eyes finally confirmed the disturbing...no, terrifying sight in front of her...and dashed off to call the doctor that was currently on duty.

But as she left the room in a perfectly understandable hurry -not before pushing on a couple buttons that would send an emergency call to a couple of additional nurses, she didn't notice his hands beginning to clench, gripping the white sheets, the first gesture he'd done for a couple of days. If she had stayed a minute longer, she would have noticed something bulging in his arms and intricate networks of dark lines starting to show on his skin. His nerves were growing at a tenfold rate, nearly threatening to tear the skin apart and burst free. Sweat beads appeared on the patient's forehead, his body finally reacting to the intense heat building up inside and forcing his sudoriferous glands to release their cooling content. Veins started to throb in some places, and in others muscles were writhing and subject to alarming spasms, as if a demonic metronome had taken place inside the Third Child's body.

But by the time the medical staff rushed in the small, white room, all of these external signs had subsided.

No one ever witnessed it again.

-

"The Third Spawn was hit by a car? How so?"

"We don't know yet" boomed the voice of the glowing monolith marked '01'. "Ikari made a good job in his cover-up. The only thing we know is that the Third is actually in intensive care in one of the underground hospitals, in a coma, but stabilized. We've got agents in the investigation team assigned to find out what happened at the crash scene, but no relevant data has been found so far."

"This is yet alarming" said number 03.

"Indeed!" agreed number 11. "We don't know if there are more Angels and if so, when they will attack."

"What?" came the outburst of number 05. "I thought there were only fifteen messengers! The scrolls stated very clearly that fifteen harbingers of the higher circles would come down to the lost paradise and bring to its inhabitants God's will and give them the test of Destiny! How can there be more when we've killed all of them?"

"That was what the first batch of scrolls indeed stated," replied calmly number 01, Lorenz Keele, SEELE's chairman. "The second batch, in the chapter of the Fifth Sefira -_Gebura,_ however, did not mention them as 'messengers' but as 'guardians'. They are probably the guardians of Paradise, sent by the Almighty to deny us, once and for good, the entrance to Heaven. We did not pay much attention to the last chapters, especially _Tifereth_, _Hod_ and _Yesod_, because they did not mention our war against the holy brethren but delved into other matters that only concern biologists. There is also the fact that the translation of those last scrolls was more difficult than that of the others because there content was written in a more arcane way, different from the other Sefiroth's ciphers. We had to way, as you can recall it perfectly, that it took us ten years for our computing technology to develop and to get the clear text out of this coded mass of pictograms and cabbalistic symbols. And in the meantime we had completely focused on the First Sefira. And when we finally cracked the other Sefiroth's codes, we just assumed, at first, that the word 'guardians' was a reference to the Evangelions, but further analysis has shown that it was out of context and that it referred to something else. Angels, to be more precise."

"So it's not yet over?"

"No."

Some murmurs echoed along the ethereal walls of the dark room, even though it was just a digital representation generated by a computer and preventing SEELE's members from meeting bodily in a place where something could happen to them. They never met in person, just conversed through highly sophisticated communication channels, hiding themselves behind monoliths of light and loudspeakers that would intimidate those who, like Gendo Ikari, had to meet them bare-headed, under the writhing glare of those twelve rectangular shapes eerily hovering above the ground.

"Now, now, gentlemen, do not worry about it. We can still adapt our scenario to meet some unexpected changes, especially with Ikari growing more powerful as he slips away from our control. We will prevail. Do not worry."

"Can we achieve Instrumentality before the guardians arrive?" asked number 06.

"Maybe. But the guardians could still throw a problem in our plans, by interfering with the power generated by Third Impact and claiming it as its own. Between our artificial avatars and those made of light and ether, Lilith will probably choose God's brethren."

Whispers were traded among the ranks of the greatest, most powerful men of Earth, as they pondered this possibility. Yet Keele had another thing to say.

"The Third Spawn's accident comes at a wrong moment. We're at the brink of a new development. What if he cannot fight? Unit 00 is destroyed and the vessels of the First have reportedly been reduced to gore; the Second is mentally unstable and has shown clear signs of not being able to pilot properly. The Fourth is crippled. The Fifth is dead, his task undone."

"Do we have to search for a Sixth?" asked number 07.

"What" exclaimed number 10. "Give Ikari a new tool for his designs? Are you mad? And even so, which unit would we give to it? One of our MP Eva series? Those are to remain in cryostasis for the storming of Lilith's Egg, nothing more!"

Many agreed with it, causing number 07 to feel that he had to defend his idea.

"True, my friends, it's a risky gamble. But aren't we in desperate times right now? As Chairman Keele stated, the other pilots are not much to put up a fight with an eventual angel. The JSSDF's JA project has been abandoned after their fantastic fiasco...and their Trident prototype's development has been put on hold because of budget cuts! We're at a stalemate. Even the divine spear has been lost. We haven't got any trump cards or other contingencies left, have we?"

Grumbles and expletives were let loose in the virtual room. Some cursed the name of Ikari, those found it better to direct their rage towards Fate. Finally, Chairman Keele spoke up.

"Silence. Silence! The argument put up by senator Fields is not one to be put aside and must be considered with great zeal. He is right, whatever you may think. We are at a stalemate...and until the Third gets better, we can only do one thing. Wait. Let Fate do its work. We'll work it out one way or another. Our scenario is very flexible."

Behind their monoliths, most nodded in agreement, letting themselves conveniently relinquish to the arms of destiny.

The others could only frown in worry about their future, which depended on an injured boy.

-

"He's feeling better? Really? That's good news!" exclaimed Major Misato Katsuragi, her hand gripping the phone finally relaxing as she let the for-once optimistic piece of news sink inside her. Behind her, a familiar redhead peered from her room, trying to get some information on - what she hoped would be - her teammate and roommate's condition.

"Ah. Really?" Her face fell a little bit, as she heard about his high fever, which caused some worry yesterday. "But he's better, didn't you say? Yeah? Ah...out of coma. I see. But it's good news, still. Yeah. Okay, I'll tell them. Yeah. Yeah, see you tomorrow. Bye." With that she lowered the handset on its cradle and turned to see Asuka leaning on the doorframe.

"So, how's that idiot?"

Misato, for the first time in days, grinned as she saw the chance to tease her roommate. "My, my, isn't that concern I'm hearing right here?"

The German went immediately beet-red and started denying everything with her usual fashion. Which implied loud voice and vehement tone. "WHAT? I'm NOT, I repeat I'M NOT concerned about that idiot! He's definitely not worth my time and I don't see why I should" Misato winced somewhat at those words but still kept her grin on her, as she went into the kitchen to immediately down a six-packs of beer, her own form of celebration for good news. "Hey, did you HEAR me" shouted the redhead, following her in the small but messy room - the result of not having Shinji around for a couple of days and having a particular Major trying, without success, to fix what should be called - according to her own standards, that is - 'dinner' (even though most agreed about the fact that the term 'biological weapon of mass destruction' should be more appropriate).

"Hee hee...you're fun to tease, Asuka, especially about him!" Misato said while popping the lid out of the first can.

Growling mingled with muttered German swearwords was soon to be heard in the kitchen as the Second Child fumed about her guardian's attitude. _SUCH matters should never be used as joke material_, she thought. "Oh, come on, Asuka, give him a rest, will you? It's not like he's going to jump on you and do something bad, you know...he's not like that..."

"But he's still a pervert!" she shouted back, trying to defend her honor and pride. "...running into me when I'm going out of the bathroom and..."

"That's because you don't care about locking the door!" pointed out the major, which earned her a full-force glare from the German fireball.

"That's NOT the point!"

"Indeed. The point is that you should give him some credit, you know. He's been through a lot lately...just like you..." Misato half regretted her words as she saw Asuka's face slightly darken, as unbidden memories came once again to life. "...and now that he's at the hospital...we should cut him some slack...he'll need all the rest he can."

"Humph. Whatever..." huffed the German, starting towards her room.

"Weren't you going to ask me about him?"

"Misato..." growled Asuka. But inside waged an inner battle. Either she asked about him and gave Misato further reason to tease her or she didn't ask and let herself worry for a few days more. She chose to say nothing. Misato expectantly eyed her...trying to determine what was going in her charge's head but instead of letting the matter fall victim to silence and awkwardness, she chose to tell her without waiting an answer.

"He's okay...he's coming out of the coma but he's somewhat feverish right now. According to Ritsuko, it's his body that is getting reacquainted with reality and finally realizing the pain and the trauma. But according to her, it will subside. His arms are nearly completely healed but he'll have to stay in a wheelchair for a couple of weeks. Apart from that, he's still unconscious but he'll eventually wake up."

Asuka tried not to sigh in calm relief as she let the information sink in. As much as she tried not to show it, she was worried about the Third Child. She had, more than once, fantasized on what would be her perfect world. Three times out of four, Shinji didn't show up in her little universe where she would be praised beyond praising by masses of adoring fans...who would accept her for what she was...perfect, strong-willed and independent...and in the last case, Shinji would be a little sidekick who, would, too, take his part in the fight, but would never steal from her her victories and get in the way, letting her accomplish her destiny of number one angel-slayer. But lately...Shinji's role had been somewhat fuzzy. They had become somewhat closer, but one wouldn't call them friends...not yet. Their arguments had been less frequent...and she had tried to show kindness towards him, so that she would repay her debt towards him, for that day when Arael attacked her mind. If she gave him his favor back, she would be able to get out with a clear conscience and not feel a tinge of guilt in the very back of her head.

But lately, things had changed. Life without Shinji seemed empty. Dull. It was as if imagining Paris without the Eiffel Tower or China without its Great Wall...Misato without her early morning beer. Nothing was the same. Something was missing. And Asuka, currently, was missing him. She couldn't believe that she would, one day, long for his ever-present trademark apologies. Eating Misato's food was another evil reminder of what life would be like without the Third Child. A nightmare.

But she couldn't admit it. It would be like admitting that she was depending on him.

But her frown and worried face, as well as the long time she took to meditate about the matter, finally gave her up to the Major.

"Mmmh? ...is it worry that I see on your face?"

The apartment was then shaken by a single shout that could be heard in the entire building.

"MISATO!"

-

"I heard that Phase Two was a success" said Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki as he looked at the Geofront. He was currently sitting, along with his superior, in one of the monorail trains that traveled from the small pyramid up to the dome's ceiling, towards the true and now dormant Tokyo-3.

"Everything is going according to the plan, as usual, my friend" replied the Supreme Commander of NERV, who was also gazing at the spectacular sight that offered the Geofront.

"Any results, so far?"

"Yes."

"Ah?" The Sub-Commander raised an eyebrow, as if dreading something.

"The Third is actually breaking free from his comatose state and is actually running on a high fever. But what's surprising is the fact that his slumbering state was broken in less than a minute, much like a spreading wildfire, if you get the idea."

"So...I suppose..."

"Yes...so far, phase two is a success."

"What about the boy?"

"He's still in treatment, unconscious, but he'll wake up, eventually. Then we'll begin phase three."

Fuyutsuki frowned, but happily his face was hidden by the shadows, so that his superior couldn't see the worry and disagreement that were starting to show. "Apart from that...what of his body?"

"His genome is indeed changing. The injected cells are starting to fuse with the local ones. In a couple of weeks, the process will be completed. We've even discovered that the newly merged cells even gave birth to a new type of very interesting virus...one that looks a lot like AIDS and HIV."

"AIDS? HIV?" Fuyutsuki's mind nearly did a double-take at hearing those two names.

"Yes. Little forms of life with their own little DNA...or should I say, RNA. When they infect the patient's cells, they implant into the local DNA strand a little string of RNA, which is, as you know, a sequence of acids that can be compared to computer code, which gives the cells' inner organs new orders...and as you know, cells secrete a lot of things...especially thanks to little microscopic organs known as ribosomes, Golgi apparels, and so on. The ribosome, in particular, considers the RNA as its list of directions, as like a construction worker refers himself to an architect's plans. But that list is corrupted. Which means that what comes out of this little organic factory are infected, transformed cells. Thus, infection spreads."

"I know about it, thank you" said Fuyutsuki. "The cells will multiply themselves at a tenfold rate because they got under the antiviral defenses. Those corrupted will transform the surrounding ones and the whole body, in the end, will be mutated into something more powerful. But I was asking you about results on the child, Gendo. Not petty theory."

The Commander smiled thinly.

"His nervous system is already changing. The onsite systems have reported the appearance of new nervous networks, especially near his spine. Nerve volume, has, in overall, grown by 27. And his veins seem to have got a little bit thicker. But the amount of blood carried by the vessels seems to be the same. There are also signs of mutation in his endocrinal system, especially near the hypothalamus and the hypophyse. And there have been some peculiar but encouraging...energy readings lately."

"I see."

"Yes. A new power is growing. And it will be ours to wield."

-

Hundreds of meters above their heads, and three kilometers more in the south, a couple of shadows were moving in the dark, near one of the three Ashino lakes, which had gotten more numerous as Non-Nuclear (N²) warheads were detonated around the city and as Angels kept coming, each time with increased firepower or ruthlessness. If one had gotten closer to the moving forms one would have made out human contours, moving with skilled efficiency and haste, trying to achieve their goal the soonest possible. A couple more shadows came out from the forest behind them, scanning the surroundings for intruders or unwanted witnesses. Slowly, they retreated in the dark, to continue their shadowy task...only to return with a bigger, black mass, that was slowly pushed down the slope, towards the still waters of the lake.

The two first figures watched a last time around them and joined their companions in their strain to vanquish the ground's declivity and bring that object inside the liquid element. One of them suddenly uttered a murmur, and at his signal, all started redoubling efforts, finally getting the black sedan to abandon its motionless state and roll down the little hill with sufficient speed to leave the ground and finally disappear in the lake with a great splash that resounded like an explosion because of the complete silence that reigned around. After a little moment, the car disappeared under the surface, the only trace of its previous presence being little bubbles escaping from their previous prison that now rested five meters beneath them.

The moving shadows took their time to once again check out the landscape in front and behind them...and then turned back...never to come back.

No one would ever find the carcass of the car in that fenced, guarded and government-owned part of Ashino Lake Two.

-

Rei Ayanami was staring at the street with her usual look on indifference painted all over her face, living icon of coldness and lifelessness but also of ignorance and of questioning. For her mind was once again plagued with interrogations that would never receive answers. Standing in front of her door she stood there for a moment, as if hesitating about her next movement. Slowly she came to the railing and peered down at the empty street beneath her, the city's inhabitants having retreated to the own houses in order to escape midday's heat. Her cold hands finally rested upon cold metal, finding a curious pleasure in the sharp contrast...as if taking reassurance in the heated state of the long metallic rod.

_It's hot. But why do I feel so cold inside?_

She looked around her, seeing no signs of life apart from the ever-present and never-ending chirping sound of the cicadas and of some lone birds that had found refuge under trees or in some buildings' shadows.

_People do not like that heat. They flee away from it. But I do not like this coldness, too. Why am I so cold?_

A voice in her head answered her, as if a third party had suddenly decided to join the conversation, unbidden.

_Maybe it's because there's only void in you._

Rei blinked, a peculiar sign of emotion from her.

_Void?_

_Yes, void. You have no life to claim as yours. You are without a soul._

_I know. But that was before; we then shared many bodies but one soul. But the others were destroyed. I am irreplaceable now._

_Indeed. But the soul that inhabits you is not your own either. It is a copy given by someone more desperate than you in your own quest of normalcy. You only live because he has given you a purpose, which you won't survive when it'll be accomplished. You are a being of one task and one task only._

_But Pilot Ikari told me that we could find purpose in life as long as we want to live and evolve._

_But is that your own will?_

Rei started. She had neither expected nor foreseen that type of question, allowing it to take her by surprise.

_Do you want to change for yourself or just because you are different from the others and cannot relate?_

_Does it matter?_

_Yes, it does. Those who evolve because they want to become somebody else for their own good are fitter for life than those who decide to change because they cannot relate to others. They will become what you already are: clones, copies of a template that is without originality. You'll take from a lot of people and become what is called a stereotype. You won't have that inner treasure that Mankind prizes and call 'true personality'. If you don't have a life or a soul of your own, what's the point in living?_ the voice coldly asked.

_I...want to...feel_, murmured Rei in her mind, feeling fear starting to seep into her mind. Something she had not felt often before, except in the Eva.

_Do feelings make you a human being, Rei?_

_Of...of course, it must...it must be so_, thought the blue-haired girl, while gripping the railing and doubling over, as if in pain.

_What makes a man a man is not only the fact that he can develop feelings or feel. Metaphysical matters are not the only facets that you must consider in this case. You must also think about what you must do, the choices and the decisions you make._

_I...see. But is it wrong not to long for feelings, when you're so cold inside?_

The voice remained silent, as if pondering her question and taking its time to find an appropriate answer.

_No. But for you, it will be the hardest task you'll be assigned...or at least that you'll assign to yourself. For you know nothing about it. You won't be able to recognize feelings like love, hate, passion, sadness...they will disturb you to no end and give birth to countless questions to which you'll find no suitable or satisfying answer. You can still try, but you won't be able to do it alone. You were 'raised' to obey, not to have free will. Those who surround you know about feelings but you don't. They can help you, but to a certain extent only. And in the end, you'll have to suffer in a certain way, in order to find what you are longing for. Feelings are in-born, not learnt. You cannot teach an individual how to feel. The only thing he would be able to do, otherwise, is to mimic what he _thinks_ he's feeling. It would then be a lie._

There was an uncomfortable silence, soon followed by the coldest and cruelest statement she'd ever heard so far.

_Like you._

-

"Is it done?" asked a figure in the shadows.

"Yes, it is. No one saw us. It went flawlessly, sir."

"Perfect, then" stated the individual, whose smile was more felt than seen, because of the darkness.

The Section Two agent, who instead stood under a single lamp that hung from the black-painted ceiling, knew better than ask questions about his previous assignment. Indiscretions like that could get him five feet under the earth's surface in a deep forest in the north of Japan, with his body being in a carbonized state and missing its head and hands to prevent identification. But that didn't stop him from wondering what the hell was that about. He had done numbers of peculiar jobs but this time his bosses' motives were puzzling him. He had had, with three other colleagues, to get rid of a black sedan, which wasn't even three months old, a brand new Toyota with integrated GPS and even a little, compact laptop mounted set in front of the front passenger's seat. Really a waste.

But what had triggered his attention the most was that the front bumper, as well as the car's front body, was coated with a thick layer of rubber-like polymer that rendered the car's flanks soft to the touch. If one were to be hit by that vehicle, he wouldn't sustain much injuries as one would normally fear. The shroud would just cause minor trauma, enough to break some bones and wound him somewhat but not kill him. At least, that's what the S2 spook thought, even though he believed that it was a special type of protection for the sedan itself.

"Very well, Koshi. Good job" the man turned towards him and spoke in a cold voice, being true to his rank of Intelligence and Special Operations chief of staff. "I don't need to remind you that it would be better for you not to remember anything about tonight's assignment, right?"

"No, sir."

"Very, Koshi. Dismissed."

"Yes, colonel."

With that, the agent saluted and headed for the exit, wondering why all king spooks had to act all mysterious with those creepy but ridiculous surroundings. _Psychological effect and intimidation_, he recalled, the content of his S2 Training Division textbooks and manuals coming back to his mind. _Open display of force is sometimes a good way to coerce a third party into cooperating or to intimidate him but there are times, like when subject shows more mental strength, uncooperativeness or plain stubbornness, where more subtle means are needed. Instead of environments full of explicit and/or shocking sights, it is recommended to use closed, spotless or simply empty rooms. The effect on the mind of the questioned individual will no more focus on the surroundings but on the other only alien objects that can retain its attention - the interrogators. When confronted in what should be called 'gloomy' areas, they will most probably lose confidence and most likely bow to the interrogators' demands. Dark, enclosed places are, as studies have shown, more intimidating than brightly lit rooms, for they express feelings as fear, unknown and oppression, all of which will help break the subject's mental defenses and get him to cooperate and give whatever one would ask of him._

The agent sighed, allowing a rare mark of emotion to escape his stiff body.

_But I'm on the good side, right?_

_Or am I on the wrong one?_

_Have I done something reprehensible in some way?_

His own mind provided him with a harsh answer that made his body chill because behind, he could sense the cold and shadowy outline of Truth.

_Undoubtedly. Even if you don't know what it is._

-

Dr. Ritsuko Akagi looked with a mix of compassion and of scientific interest at the sleeping face of the Third Child, still wrapped in countless courses of medical gauze. She knew that unseen forces were at work in that frail body and that in a couple of days the being known as Shinji Ikari would never be the same again. She had ordered a set of tests an hour ago and the results that were sent to her by the automated life-control systems had provided her with a gigantic stack of biological data...full of irregularities. The changes and the numbers were so unreal that she had had to reorder a new set of tests to confirm what she was seeing right now. Even the MAGI supercomputers had to be used in order to process, properly analyze and classify the amount of information taken out of the body of the Third Child.

The MAGI had finally come up with an extremely sophisticated evolution matrix, that would be able to explain and predict for the next few hours how would the patient's body evolve and mutate...the first time she had set her eyes on the mathematical figure she had found herself staring mouth open at something that was completely impossible. Even the eleventh Angel didn't show something as complicated as this. And what was worse was that the figure had completely changed the next hour. It was pretty easy to predict how the human being would evolve during the next few centuries, thanks to algorithms that would give a clear idea of what some organism should like should they sudden evolve. But the mathematical model, here, would be unbelievably complicated. Nobody, not even a supercomputer, could have foreseen it, much less imagined it. _It's a pity that Mother isn't here to see this_...she thought. _She would have found a real goldmine to support her biocomputing theories_. She shivered as she thought about the artificial brains locked inside metallic bulkheads in the MAGI's innards and about what was happening right now in her _patient's_ cranium. New connections were being woven between the two hemispheres, building relentlessly and with an unnatural precision new links between separated parts of the gray organ. Nervous outgrowths were appearing here and there around the cortex, linking further that part of the brain with places like the thalamus and the rachidian bulb. The pineal body was increasing in size and was pumping like mad centiliters of melatonin and serotonin, feeding his body with high quantities of regulating hormones. And heat sensors placed around the Third Child's body showed an impressive display of heat circulation, an ever-changing game of colors that would put at shame a Christmas Tree. One could easily locate the cerebellum on the screen by the way it pulsed, in perfect rhythm with Shinji's heartbeat. The ECG was sent into a frenzy, unable to follow properly the brains' changes and to give a proper diagnostic. For the moment, it was betting on a major epilepsy attack, which was, of course, wrong. Machines will still be machines.

"What have we done to you, Shinji?" she whispered while shaking her head.

"A blessing."

She let out a little yelp as she spun around, finding herself staring at the cold, rock-like figure of Gendo Ikari, who seemed more interested in the array of apparatus deployed around the bed than his own son.

"A...blessing." Ritsuko soon found her throat being constricted by a feeling she couldn't place. Maybe it was the fact that she wasn't working on a soulless vessel like Rei Ayanami but instead on the body of a person she knew quite well, that made her like this. Or the feeling that something bad was at hand.

"Yes" replied Shinji's father. "Don't you see it? Look at the monitors. Even his legs are nearly healed; they were still broken a few hours ago. He won't need these metal rods anymore" he added, looking at the metallic bars that held his legs straight and allowed his broken femurs to knit back together.

Ritsuko Akagi kept her face straight but she was wincing inwardly. She sincerely didn't knew if they had done more good than harm to the boy. She was even wondering if everything was going right in his head, at least mentally. She didn't know if all these changes weren't disrupting his thoughts and wounding his soul in a way that would make Asuka's mind-attack look like a fun moment. What if he goes insane? What if the individual known as Shinji Ikari was already now more? The others, including the technicians known as 'the bridge bunnies', would take it real bad. It was already dramatic that they had to learn -at least some of them- about Rei's true nature and discover that she had already died two times but it would be disastrous if the Third Child came to die, definitively crippling them. Unit 01 would never accept anyone else than him. And speaking of which...

"Do you think that Unit 01 will recognize him?"

"Yes. She recognizes someone by its soul, not by its body. That's all that matters" answered Gendo Ikari whilst looking at the mathematical model of the evolution matrix. A slight smirk appeared on his thin lips, as he saw a very familiar pattern emerge from the maze of lines and curves. "And synchronization will be improved now that he is closer to the avatars than anything else, even Rei."

"Even Rei"? Ritsuko Akagi lifted an eyebrow, unsure of that statement. After all, the First Child was a copy of Lilith. The way her body stiffened was also a sign of how that subject was still sensible to her.

"Indeed. She is flawed in more ways than we thought. And her psyche is escaping our control right now. She is becoming useless."

Useless. That word brought a course of pain through her mind, as she thought about herself and a meeting that she had had with the Supreme Commander right after she had disposed of the vessels down in Terminal Dogma, in the Chamber of Guf.

_I've got a use for you._

She shook away that unpleasant memory and turned back to the Third Child whose head had rolled on its side.

"I see that his body is finally responding to its brain."

"Predictable."

She narrowed her eyes for she was getting tired of those expressions that came to the Commander's mouth as if he couldn't say anything else. She didn't see how the unnerving biological activity in Shinji's body would be so predictable.

"He'll wake up tomorrow."

-

Down in the deepest areas of Central Dogma, sealed by countless doors or titanium and carbon fiber, contained by walls of reinforced concrete and of tremendous dimensions, guarded by dozens of highly-trained combat troops, stood a purple behemoth, chained to a wall and patiently waiting for deliverance. Its slumber had been long and uneventful, but in the last months, it had begun to wake up of its own accord, finally reunited with his brethren of the Higher Circles and triggering something in the soul that dwelt deep in the gigantic biomechanical body. Eva Unit 01: the artificial God, gifted with a forcefully taken S2 engine, able to move by its own will, driven by a mind that would show to the word the true meaning of rage and power. The one being only one individual had ever been able to tame.

Staring endlessly at the blank wall in front of it with a grin that made many people uncomfortable by its cruelty, the behemoth of flesh and metal awaited its next battle. The silence around it weaving an atmosphere that would remind some people of a burial's. Awkward and oppressing.

Even though all the instruments that were linked to its body and supposed to detect any suspect activity inside the mechanic didn't sense anything, something started to stir inside the gigantic warrior, as if reacting to another event that was occurring somewhere near.

All of the technicians of the current shift had been recalled a couple of minutes ago, for a meeting in one of the staff's conference room, which meant that nobody was left in the enormous hangar to witness the curious and alarming behavior of the manmade beast.

Even though its mouth stayed shut, the jaws being welded shut by the intertwined 'teeth' of the protective helm, a low growl started to emanate from the mecha's metal-shod throat, making itself known to the surroundings, softly resounding against the deserted walls of the cage. For some unknown reason none of the audio systems and the electrodes attached to the Eva had recorded it.

And as if the guttural sound wasn't enough, behind the thick panes of glass that protected them and hid their true nature to the world, the gigantic being's eyes started to glimmer, then lit up, progressively bathing the hangar with an unearthly glow.

Unit 01 was once again conscious.

And free of will.

_**

* * *

** _

_**To be continued...**_

* * *

**A/N:**

The Tree of Life is an elaborate graphic network of symbols, composed of ten circles, all of which represent the ten primordial numbers (the ten levels of infinity), namely ten degrees orfacets that compose altogether the divine or the manifestation of the divine essence's attributes. These ten circles are also called 'circles of life' or more precisely 'Sefira' (pl. _Sefiroth_) and are the basis of a larger design called the 'Tree of Life', 'Tree of Sefiroth' or 'Kabbalah', a name which has given birth to a modern word, 'cabbala', which means 'mystic interpretation; any esoteric doctrine or occult lore' (Ref.: Oxford Compendium, Concise, Ninth Edition). From top to bottom and from left to right, these ten Sefiroth are named (along with their attribute): _Keter_ -or _Khaetar_- _Elyon_ (the Highest Crown), _Binah_ (Highest Wisdom), _Hochma_ -or _Cochma_- (Intelligence or Spirit),_ Gebura_ -or _Pechad_- (Fear or Force), _Hesed_ -or _Chesed- _(Mercy or Magnificence), _Tifereth_ (Grace), _Hod_ (Honor or Glory), _Nesah_ -or _Nisah_- (Victory), _Yesod_ -also spelled _Iesod_-(the World's Foundation) and last but not least, _Malkut_ -or _Malcuth_- (Kingdom). The three topmost ones are considered to be purely intellectual whilst the seven other ones, called 'Edificial Sefiroth' are thought to be secondary 'causes' in relation to the extradivine world. The Sefiroth on the left are benefic while those on the right are supposed to be sterner. There is, however, an invisible feminine principle, named Shekina, and another, 'Judgment', that seem to pose a problem to those who study the doctrine in its entirety. These ten Sefira are linked by twenty-two lines, which are the paths to happiness. As an real life anecdote, the most famous representation of the Kabbalah has been drawn by Athanasius Kircher and can be found on most specialized websites going on about cabbala and other cabbalism-related beliefs.

* * *

**AN AUTHOR'S QUICK WORD:**

In this series you won't see much personal notes, only technical ones or some miscellaneous facts that can give some additional information input to the story itself - but for once, I'll post here a note about me and the fic.

First, I'd like to thank those who have reviewed the 'TBI' series. Your support was deeply welcome, since it's my first fic and I am eager to see the response from the reader community and eventually learn from it. Second, I have encountered during the last few days a lot of problems with especially about its pen name database, which told me that the name 'abi' was already taken even though I had written 'abi2301' in the registration form - quite silly, if you ask me. And when I tried to change it by, say, putting the 'abi' letters in uppercase configuration, it still didn't accept - so I had to settle for 'ABIMP', and the system won't now accept 'abi2301' back. This was just the first of my problems, as most of the formatting of my documents was completely ruined when it was uploaded by QuickEdit, which I have now taken to curse to the ninth hell when I wake up in the morning. Double line breaks disappearing, some characters like the inverted and normal backslash that disappear - the separation mark (a single - ) between the various parts of the fic was in fact composed of three inverted backslashes, followed (after a single space) by three dashes (or hyphens, whatever) and finally (again after a single space) by three normal backslashes. That 'symbol' I since used as a 'subchapter' break mark, was swallowed up by QuickEdit - the same fate seems to have befallen some of my symbols like the asterisk or the double hyphen, which finally got out in the form of a single hyphen (I use the double hyphen inside a sentence to break its pattern and insert digressions or little parts that would, otherwise, have been written between brackets). And as for the right alignment of the names under the quotes and the 'to be continued' message? QuickEdit ignored it. Also, something that will bother me a lot when I'll get to later chapters since they seem to grow longer by the day, is the fact that interrogation or exclamation marks just before a quote sign seems to strangely disappear when uploaded. For example"Hey" or "Hey" become respectively "Hey" and "Hey" - those who reviewed before I came back to correct the errors might now what I'm talking about -theoretically they're all gone as I am speaking but I might find a couple of them in the future if I ever decide to come back and search around with a microscope. I'm only nineteen and I already have the beginnings of an ulcer because of it - I even started to consider converting to satanism just to get rid of those...annoying quirks, for lack of a better and more decent term.

Anyway, for those who would like to have the chapters in their original format, in .HTML, just drop me an e-mail. You'll easily find the link above in my personal profile. Feel free, too, to read a bit about me. You might find a thing or two that might interest you...or not. Oh, by the way, my project 'RIP' is on hold for the moment, until I finish those two chapters (namely 10 and 11) of 'TBI' and find some time to think about what I might do about the storyline - just to warn you. Chapt. 10 is coming along quite obediently, even though university has somewhat stopped me mid-stride in my will to go forward as life is becoming more and more hectic. Anyway, I'll try to find a way to practice spin control, as some people put it at home.

Thank you for your attention, and good reading.

abi2301, also known as 'abimp'


	4. Chapter 04: The Antichamber Of Life Awa...

**Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Beast Inside**

**Written by abi2301**

**Chapter 04**

**v.01: 10/20/2004**

Official disclaimer: the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series are the intellectual and material property of Gainax Studios, ADVision, Inc., Shonen Ace magazine, Hideaki Anno and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. All rights reserved. 'NGE: The Beast Inside' is a purely fictional series based upon the original NGE and written for entertainment purpose only. No money is made out of it.

* * *

**Chapter 04: The Antechamber Of Life / Awareness Returned, Mysteries Unanswered**

_The philosophers have only interpreted the world in various ways; the point is to change it._

**Karl MARX, _Theses on Feuerbach_ (written 1845, published 1888) no. 11**

_We live, not as we wish to, but as we can._

**MENANDER, _The Lady of Andros in Menander: the Principal Fragments_ (translated by F. G. Allinson, 1951) p. 3**

* * *

_The stars are dancing..._

_But are these 'stars'?_

_No, I see lights. Lights that are moving around._

_All's dark in here. I do not see anything else apart from these pinpricks of light._

_And there's the...OH MY GOD! THE CAR!_

_IT'S GOING TO...!_

_Blue skies? Red?_

_But there's a crescent moon up there... How can there be a moon in the middle of the day, instead of the sun?_

_Touji? Where are you going?_

_I see blood. And water._

_Unit 01? What..._

The mind of Shinji Ikari, once again, was privy to another delirium attack, due to his fever, which has relentlessly plagued his weakened body for the last two days. Seventy-two hours ago, he had been in an artificial coma, slowly recuperating from his wounds and trauma, waiting for his organism to settle back to a healthier state. But an agent of Fate, his worst enemy, had taken him from that immaterial realm without pain and suffering, before casting him into a universe of mental and physical torment. It was as if he had fallen into the darkest pits of Hell, with devils soaring all around him, torturing him to no end. His brains, due to the incoherent electrical firings that coursed through the axons and because of the important mass of various hormones that were released inside his cranium and confusing his own nerves, cheating on his five senses and feeding his mind with phantom feelings, like numbness then pain, followed by cold and heat, the contrast making the ordeal harder to bear.

_I see...an Eva? No, it's a person._

_But he has no arms...where have they gone?_

_I'm sorry._

_It has disappeared...and now I see..._

_"Stupid Shinji"_

_Why won't they leave me? It's not my fault!_

_A railway station? But why am I here? I hate that place._

Random images popped up in his mind, providing him with a disordered array of memories that made no sense at all; but even his sense of criticism seemed to have evaporated, his soul finally abandoning itself without much of a fight to its serious state. He suddenly felt oppressed, as if invisible hands had started to cup the sides of his head and to crush it between them. The throbbing grew up to the point of being unbearable, and finally, at long last, his body forcefully reacted at the desperate orders the brains were sending through its mutating nervous system.

He shook his head, as if wanting to chase away invisible demons, his temples softly beating against the sweat-covered pillows. A nurse, besides him, took note of his gesture and rose up from the chair she was occupying near the bed. Since his state had dramatically changed twenty-two hours ago a member of the medical staff was present in order to respond swiftly and immediately to any new development that would put to danger the already weakened Third Child. The much-feared Supreme Commander of NERV had even ordered Shinji's doctors to check him ever so often, at least two times per hour.

The nurse put a hand on Shinji's head, only to withdraw it in surprise, shocked at the child's temperature. _My God...he's burning hot! At least forty degrees Celsius!_ She nonetheless brought her palm back to her patient's head, in a calming gesture, trying to stop his erratic movement. If his legs and arms were not in a cast, she was sure that he would have been trashing around, even with broken limbs. She and her colleagues had had a private conference yesterday evening, far from prying eyes and ears, even from Section Two's, about the Third Child's status. The medical figures the doctors had come up with and shown to the entire staff had brought shocked gasps from most of them. Most of them were x-rays, M.R.I.s and even angiograms, which showed some of the physical changes the Eva pilot now bore. His current vitals even made countless eyebrows rise. Some of the people in the room were starting to freak out. Something was happening and they could explain it, much less understand it. They feared the unknown for, for them, it was often a synonym of death and helplessness. The boy wouldn't even be alive in such conditions, yet he continued to defy every law of biological evolution and of medicine.

The nurse noticed his movements finally stopping, as if the Third Child had finally decided to calm down. Shivers spread throughout his body, sending slight vibrations through the bed's metallic frame. The torment-filled frown on Shinji's face deepened, showing the outer world the pain the boy was currently feeling. The woman immediately felt sorry for him. Life, she had learnt during those last years, was really unfair. _Well, at least he has some friends to visit him_, she thought, recalling the purple-haired Major and the two Pilots that had tried to see him, only to meet a strong and firm refusal from the entire staff. Supreme Commander's orders, they had said, immediately seeing the expectant faces dropping when they heard the name.

Well, time can mend everything if...

If...

The nurse blinked and took a look closer to the Third Child's face, watching for signs of... Yes. There it was again. She had not been hallucinating. His eyelids were tremulous, as though they were fighting against gravity or contradictory orders, trying to reveal what was under them. A low moan rose from the patient's throat, sending the nurse reeling back in surprise, not expecting that type of reaction. She came back to the bed, trying to steady her madly beating heart and to keep her accumulating stress from taking away her self-control. Long hours of shift along with countless tasks to perform either for the Supreme and Vice- Commanders or just for the chief doctors had worn everybody off. And that was not forgetting the fact that the one they had tacitly pledged to bring back to healthiness was REALLY important. They once knew who and what he was but now they were wondering about it.

She took his pulse, checked his blood pressure and took a long look at the EEG and ECG scanners, trying to come up with a diagnosis, so that she would be able to decide about her next steps. Well, she sighed, at least that boy is...

She never finished her thought for, for the second time, the Third Child had chosen to startle her in the most shocking of ways, especially to the puzzled and badly shaken people who were assigned to watch over him.

His eyes had snapped open, looking straight back at her.

Her scream could be heard in the entire corridor, getting passing by surgeons to run into the room and find the source of the commotion.

Their surprise was as equal as their colleague's, who had, understandably, fainted and unceremoniously fallen to the floor.

The Third Child was wide-awake...and staring back at them with nearly _glowing_, CRIMSON eyes.

Eyes that would haunt those who had seen them at that moment.

-

Two women were making their way throughout the 1st deep trauma section of NERV's second hospital, shoving aside the few patients that got in their way and yelling at them about slowing them. One sported red hair whilst the other had purple. Both of them were worried but determined to get to their destination as soon as possible, wanting to know about what had happened that morning.

Major Misato Katsuragi had been working at Headquarters that morning, when she heard about the incident in the Third Child's room. She had received a first priority call on her cell phone -being Shinji's legal guardian, she had every right to be informed of such a development- from the hospital, by an awed and rather shaken doctor, who had stuttered about a slight problem that had occurred that morning when the pilot had awoken. Fearing some trouble and wanting to see her injured charge as soon as possible, she had immediately dashed off to that section of the Geofront, leaving behind them puzzled technicians that were waiting for her orders about new combat strategies.

Asuka Langley Soryu, for her part, was just coming out of the lockers' shower, after five hours of synch training, trying to get back at the top of her abilities as an Eva pilot. Her tests had showed an overall decrease of 03.7 in her synch ratio, even though it had dramatically risen during the last two weeks. Everybody knew what was the cause of this effect and nobody had voiced it out loud, knowing that only time would mend the hurt that was inflicted upon each of them. Even Ritsuko Akagi, with her calm demeanor and old, accurate scientific spirit, didn't make a comment, choosing instead to hum and write the results on her notepad. For a reason unknown to the occupants of the control room, she seemed more introverted than before, not fearing to make shocking comments about people's reactions and the way the human mind worked. It was when the entry-plug was being released from Unit 02's armored spine that she had heard, over the comm. about the awakening of the Third Child, and the chaos he had caused. She had then immediately got out of the cylindrical cockpit and stormed out of the cages, startling nearby technicians by her haste. Passersby could hear her mumbling about idiots and perverts among other things like colorful German curses. She met Misato at one of the elevator, waiting for the car to stop at their floor and together they had gone to see what had happened.

"Room 356...357...358...no, that's not it...yet..." mumbled the Major as she checked the numbers painted above the white, metallic doorframes, searching for Shinji's room. Asuka said nothing, choosing instead to glare at her surroundings and at the mess Shinji must have made, even in his state. Misato then spotted a group of medics and nurses that were animatedly talking in front of them, twelve meters away. One of them spotted the two approaching persons and greeted them with a small nod. And a worried and confused frown on his face.

"Major...miss..."

"So, is he awake?" she asked, already starting for the door. An arm quickly shot up to grab her shoulder, causing her to stop before the infrared motion sensor a meter above her registered the movement and opened the metallic panel. The medical staff looked on, as if waiting for their reactions. "What the hell..."

"Major...please...wait. We must talk first."

"Yes?" she asked with clear frustration and impatience bleeding from her words. Asuka glared at the man, not appreciating the interruption and wanting to find out for herself about the Third Child's status and his previous doings.

"Well...you see, these last four days have been hell for us. In more than one way, I must add," he explained, scratching the back of his head and trying to find the appropriate words. "His operation took us twelve to fourteen hours, no less and the state we left him in was not very encouraging. We had succeeded in fixing most of his injured parts, but his body seemed to be a bit down, which means that we had to use important doses of drugs to keep him alive during that time and make him react to our treatment and elicit from him the wanted and needed physical reactions."

Asuka muttered something that none understood. Misato caught the word 'wimp' but paid no heed.

"He was in an artificial coma when we rolled him away from the ER. In that way he would have been able to heal better without having to cope with the full brunt of his injuries. He would not have taken it very long. We needed to 'knock him out' for a moment, if you see the idea. We were maintaining him in that state with synthetic drugs that would also help him as painkillers...so..."

"Yes, I get the idea! Please get to the damn point!" Misato nearly screamed but snarled instead, starting once again for the door. Besides her, Asuka growled something among the same lines. The doctor was even more awkward with those two living bombs ready to explode in front of him.

"Well...the fact is that these last forty-eight hours, everything had gone awry...completely out of hand."

Misato's eyebrows knitted together, her eyes narrowing, her interest finally piqued by the man's last declaration.

"What?"

"He...got out of the coma...caught a severe fever -which is understandable seeing his state, but still- and showed some curious if not alarming changes on our vitals surveillance systems. We saw things that were not possible, especially about his nervous system and his blood vessels. Even the ECG had gone mad these two days. If I didn't thought better, I would have believed that our automated diagnosis computer programs had caught a virus and begun to feed us with corrupted data...but we run some tests...and all of them showed irregularities...anomalies."

"Anomalies?"

"Yes...nerves that shouldn't be there, cerebral outgrowths, even cellular changes. His whole body was changing."

Asuka looked at the man as if he was a madman. Sure, she had read fantastic and horror books like _Frankenstein_ back in Germany, but the doctor was exaggerating. _But we're in NERV's territory here. Even the unexpected and impossible can occur_, part of her mind amended. But she still went with her idea that the medical staff's collective mind had gone nuts.

"But that's impossible! How can that idiot...!

"Asuka, shut up, please..." interrupted the Major, raising a head to stop her incoming rant. She turned back to the clearly uncomfortable doctor and narrowed her eyes, trying to sense if some mad joke was being pulled upon them. "Is that so? Then why weren't we informed of this?"

"Orders from HQ. Commander Ikari told us to watch the patient closely but to report to him and him ONLY."

Misato's face scrunched into a grimace that nearly made the onlookers run away in fear for their own safety. "Commander Ikari?"

"Yes" stuttered the now frightened man.

"Hiding something from us again" she spat in disgust. "And Ritsuko...when I'll see her..." Even Asuka shuddered at that thought. Having a certain pissed-off, ARMED, major on your tracks was not something to wish for, if you really loved living. She didn't know about every dark job the blonde-haired scientist had done for NERV in the bowels of Terminal Dogma but she knew some disturbing things about Rei, which made her wince every time she looked at the blue-haired pilot and step away from her.

"I don't think it would reasonable, Major" a voice said behind them, startling the fiery duo and nearly giving a heart attack to the already shaken medical staff. "Section Two would want then to arrest you for committing physical abuse or injuring an important staff member. Your acts could get you imprisoned."

Asuka spun around and nearly fainted at the sight of the First Child, who had silently approached them and just softly spoken, breaking her usual law of silence.

"Rei?"

"Yes, Major? Can I be of assistance?"

The purple-haired woman nearly sported a massive sweat-drop on the side of her head as she heard the robot-like voice of the child in front of her. "Errr...that depends...what are you doing here?"

"I am here to see Pilot Ikari, Major."

"Why?" The question came from Asuka, this time. She was, just like her guardian, puzzled about the First Child's motives about coming to see Shinji. She would normally not have cared about the young man and even thought about paying him a visit.

"Because that's what I decided for myself." Two pairs of eyes widened to the size of saucers at her answer, not expecting one of this type.

"Errr...whatever...hmm...well...let's get back to our business, doctor...huh?" she turned back at the man who had taken a step back and was staring, wide-eyed, at the clone in front of him, as if reminiscing a nightmare that had haunted him for years and had made itself known quite recently. "What's the matter?"

She noticed that the other surgeons and nurses were also looking with horror at the First Child and seemed ready to flee away.

"Hey, what's gotten into you?" asked a bewildered Asuka. "Hey, I'm talking to you! ANSWER" she bellowed, seeing their lack of responsiveness.

"Her eyes..." murmured a woman on the left, her face pale and full of fright.

"What?" Rei, too, was puzzled and was starting to feel uncomfortable under those gazes.

"Just like him this morning..."

"WHAT?" shouted an alarmed Misato. Asuka didn't understand at all what was going on. "What happened, this morning?" She grabbed the doctor by his collar and shoved him against the wall and bellowed right in his face, stirring him from his frozen state. "Answer!"

"...Th...this morning...one...oh my God...one of the nurses on duty...she...she witnessed the Third Child waking up...but it was so sudden and...I suppose...so unexpected...that she fainted...at least...that's what we believed when we came into his room...but we found her unconscious on the ground...and the Third Child was awake...looking...oh God, oh God...LOOKING STRAIGHT at us...I will never forget it..."

"And so...where's the problem?" shouted an exasperated Asuka, not understanding the medical staff's behavior and getting more and more worried. The man closed his eyes, flinched and took a deep breath...as if trying to confess something difficult to admit.

"His eyes...his...his eyes had changed color..."

"They were...red" added a male surgeon, who was fidgeting with a stethoscope and looking nervously back at the silent figure of Rei Ayanami, whose eyes had noticeably -and surprisingly- widened at the revelation.

A shocked silence descended upon the group as the three women let the information sink in. Finally...Misato found it within herself to speak...uttering words of disbelief and of worry. Words that could not be voiced by the two other children. One because she wasn't that talkative and the second because she didn't know what to think about that and couldn't come up with an appropriate comment. "You...you're kidding me, right?" she asked. The man shook his head. "No...NO! I swear!" Misato looked, bewildered, at the other staff members, her eyes filled with one question only. They all said 'no'. Their faces was too much of a giveaway of the seriousness of that statement. "But that's impossible...no..."

The doctor then turned his head towards the door and told her "Then...take a look...and see for yourselves."

Misato did not wait for the man to finish...as soon as his proposal made itself known to her, she released her burden -allowing it to sink to the floor and gasp for air- and stormed towards the door...and into the room, Shinji's room...only to stop in her tracks...her mouth hanging wide open and her eyes flooding with disbelief...

For in the small bed, surrounded with _nec plus ultra_ life-sustaining equipment, was laying an injured but perfectly well and wide awake Shinji Ikari, his head still wrapped in bandages, his torso hidden by layers of thick, white gauze and his arms and legs trapped in long, rigid casts of plaster and metal, staring at the door with a look of surprise etched on his calm features...

His BROWN eyes were looking straight back at the Major, waiting for her to say something.

-

"THAT'S THE SICKEST JOKE I'VE EVER HEARD OF!" roared an infuriated Major at a bemused Ritsuko Akagi, who seemed to still be in her silent, pensive state. Around them, many technicians were staring, wide-eyed at the enraged Commander of Operations, not daring to ask her to quiet down and let them work in silence. All knew the jovialness she was gifted with but knew even more about her equally famous short temper no one wished to face in person. "WHAT WERE THEY THINKING OF? SCARING US LIKE THAT WITH SUCH A DIRTY PRANK? I SWEAR, IF I GET MY HANDS ON THEM I'LL..."

"MISATO!"

The Major immediately shut up at her companion's frustrated outburst. She stared a second or two at the scientist then turned away, glancing at the holographic maps that seemed to be suspended in midair in front of the bridge. Dr. Ritsuko Akagi knew that the major, in a way, had every right to be furious, but not for the good reasons. She also decided that a simply pissed-of and worried Katsuragi was better than one with a mind to kill, which she should be right now if she knew the truth about what had really happened out there at the hospital. Once again, the blond-haired scientist thanked her luck and all higher beings that prevented a major incident that morning, one that could have sent the entire organization into shock if Fate had allowed such a possibility to materialize. "Look, I know what you're thinking right you, but it won't help to yell around and disturb your colleagues and subordinates' business, okay?" she asked, gesturing at the bridge bunnies who were looking from the corner of their eyes at the contrasting pair, with an embarrassed look plastered on their faces.

The purple-haired officer glared at her for a very short moment then cast her eyes down. "...Okay, I'm sorry..."

Ritsuko allowed the smallest of the smiles to crawl up on her face, as the Major unconsciously reminded her of a certain dark-haired teenager who had the infuriating habit of endlessly apologized, even when he was not at fault. But as the second individual came into her mind, her amusement fade as a wisp of smoke into the wind. "Listen, Misato. Everybody's been highly stressed these last few days. I know what you've been through. Listening to countless reports of S2 agents who do not give a damn about your status and your priorities and other responsibilities as a guardian and as an officer, not having to see Shinji because of his state...I know it's been hard for you. It's been hard for us all. Look at me" she added, pointing at herself. "I've had to supervise the MAGI's monthly check-up and updates, I've had to monitor the progress on the Eva's armament and biological enhancement development studies, not to mention Asuka's synch tests...along with the fact that Commander Ikari personally asked me to keep a close eye on the Third Child's status and supervise his treatment. Do you think you're the only who's in a mess? Well, I've got news for you: we're ALL fucked up right now!" she stated, nearly poking her finger in Misato's chest. Her somewhat raised voice betrayed the irritation that was starting to seep into her words.

"...OKAY! I'm said I'm sorry!" grumbled a disgruntled Misato. "But that still does not give them the right to pull such a joke upon us like that!"

Ritsuko shrugged. "They were under pressure, too. Some of the staff members have been awake and on duty for more than twenty-four hours, along with the fact that they had to check up on Shinji every now and then...some of them might have snapped...or...well, you know what can tiredness do to already stressed people."

"So you're dismissing it as...what? A mass hallucination phenomenon?" she asked with quirked eyebrows. The doctor shrugged once again as if saying 'search me'.

"That is, if they were not pulling a joke on you as you assumed."

"Hmmph!"

Misato crossed her arms, clearly vexed. Ritsuko's explanation did not satisfy her. She had started to trust her back, even after what the abominable crime she had committed in the Chamber of Guf, killing remorselessly the soulless clones of Rei Ayanami and revealing the most shocking secrets Misato and Shinji had ever discovered about NERV and some of its members' past doings. _I hope she isn't keeping secrets from me as before..._she thought, the idea making her frown and tighten her lips.

"By the way...the docs told me about an interesting fact this morning...apart from that...incident."

Ritsuko, who had returned to her console and was currently typing away hundreds of commands with her trademark speed, looked up from her station. That captured Misato's attention. The true, honest scientists would never have stopped in her task, much less tore her gaze away from what she was doing, choosing instead to talk back whilst still continuing her job.

"What?"

"They told me that they had witnessed some curious things about Shinji's body...about the way it healed up."

Ritsuko cringed inwardly. _DAMN! That was just what I was wanting to avoid!_ she screamed to herself. But her composure did not change due to long years of training and private teaching from an individual who had completely -to the point of making it an art, if not a way of being- the process.

"Did they? It wouldn't surprise me, but the fact that they make a fuss about it _does_ surprise me, I must say."

"Huh?" Misato blinked. She had thought the doctor would have dismissed the idea or changed the subject and did not expect her to actually delve into the matter. NOW she completely confused.

"Do you think that the Children are still the same as before?"

"...Wh...what do you mean?" she asked back uncertainly.

"Oh, come on, Misato" sighed Ritsuko with an exasperated tone. "Those kids pilot forty-stories biomechanical monsters that synch with them through a mental link. Do you think that they were chosen just like that without any test? You know why Shinji had to come here, even if he didn't have any previous training. You know that during the Second Impact there were massive energy waves that washed around the globe, much like a tidal wave, if you want. Low-frequency radiations, to be more precise. Most of the children that were either conceived or born after the tragedy were slightly modified. Their genetic patrimony and pattern were changed by the cataclysm, Misato. Why do you think only fourteen-year-olds can pilot those monstrosities?" she pointed to a monitor that showed a live feed from Eva Unit 01's berthing cage. "Because they're MODIFIED, Misato! And Shinji surely has changed over those past few months. You know about the infamous 'LCL Effect', don't you?"

The Major nodded numbly, trying to absorb the news that her friend was giving her. "The LCL is basically, like I told you, a re-creation of the world's primordial soup of life. It has everything it needs - proteins, vitamins, lipids, oxygen, nitrous oxide, hydrogen, carbon and numerous types of nutrients - to be a perfect environment for sped-up evolution, Misato. THAT, added to the fact that the Children have been subjected to irradiation when they were still embryos at that time, theoretically, changed them. Shinji the most, for various reasons. It's not surprising that he's been showing some curious features like fast healing and the stuff."

"But..." she stammered, seeing a gap in her explanation. "You told me that Shinji wouldn't heal THAT fast because his body was too weak to react properly to his trauma!"

_SHIT!_ the doctor thought. _I must cover this one up and think about something real fast._ She opted for a simple hypothesis. "Well, Shinji seemed to be in better shape than I thought. He's been pretty unresponsive for the first fourteen hours but I suppose that with the drugs' help he'd gone back on the way to healthiness."

"Oh yeah?"

"YES, MISATO! How many times must I repeat it for you to understand?"

The Major grumbled loudly, complaining about friends that never tell her everything at first. "Okay...okay...I get it...but why didn't you tell that BEFORE?"

"Do you REALLY think I've had the time to do it or a list under my hand to tell you everything about the world?"

Misato didn't answer, choosing instead to mumble something under her breath.

"Anyway...how's Shinji?"

"I didn't have much of a conversation with him" she answered with a sigh. "He's still too weak to talk for a long time and I only ask him if he was okay."

-FLASHBACK-

"Shinji...are you alright?" asked the worried figure of Misato Katsuragi, who was currently sitting on the side of the bed, her head turned towards him. "...Are you feeling okay"

Shinji nodded feebly, trying to fight against the massive headache he was suffering at the moment. Every movement from his head, even the simple ask of talking, seemed to be an excruciating ordeal for his body. But he wanted to give his guardian a question, to avoid getting her worried. Recalling the way she barged in his room, he could tell that she was more than worried about him.

"I'm...fine, Misato...I'm fine..." he croaked, his dried throat begging for water.

The purple-haired, red-jacketed woman gave him in return a really tiny smile, whilst a certain redhead decided to make one of her usual stinging comments.

"You idiot! How can you be fine when you've got a fever and your body is buried under tons of bandages? You just look like Ramses II's mummy on one of his good days!"

The two winced, the older one because of Asuka's harshness and lack of tactfulness and the youngest because of her voice's volume, which was unbearable to his ears and to his tired mind. Shinji sighed, thinking, oddly, with a small amount of satisfaction: 'at least she's still herself, even if I'm injured.'

"...That's...better than..."

Misato cut him off, not wanting to hear the next part. He had no idea how she had been worried when she had learnt, through a Section Two's emergency call, about his accident.

"It's okay, Shinji. As long as you're alive, everything is okay. Everything will be okay and even more when you'll get out of it. Believe me."

But the Major didn't know how wrong she was.

-END FLASHBACK-

-

"I heard about this morning" said the calm voice of Fuyutsuki, who was staring at the small patrol boat in the middle of the LCL pool.

"I hoped you would. In fact, I was almost certain you would" replied Gendo Ikari, whose attention was directed towards a body of greater dimensions and of another nature.

"'Everything's predictable', are you going to say?" asked the Vice Commander with a raised eyebrow, the sarcasm nearly invisible in his question.

"I don't need to repeat myself. You know me all too well, old friend."

_Hmmph. __Since when did I become your friend, Ikari? Since you lost your wife and found another tool in my own person?_

"So...I deem that our gamble was not in vain?"

"No."

Gendo Ikari looked at the metallic face of Lilith, the Second Angel and source of all life, nailed to a gigantic red cross. Months ago, another object could have been seen protruding from the behemoth's glowing white chest and stopping its regenerative powers, but now it was out in another realm, far out of Mankind's reach, caught between the attraction forces of both Earth and the Moon, and slowly drifting towards the cold, barren, pockmarked and desolate face of the Blue Planet's smaller satellite.

"But aren't things coming too fast, Ikari? Aren't we wrestling a little bit too much the hands of Fate? Such haste could backfire on us."

"The sooner will be better for us. And as of going too fast...well, at least it will help us coming up with a new weapon against SEELE."

"WHAT?" The Vice Commander spun around, startled beyond reckoning by such a statement. He knew that defying the mighty and darkness-enshrouded organization was like asking for a private dance with the Grim Reaper in person, but to actually ATTACK them... "Have you gone mad? They have more means and resources than us, even if we have all operational Evangelions in our hands!"

"Did you forget about the MP Evangelions?"

"That's what I was getting at! They could use them against us! And I don't think Unit 01 would awaken soon enough to guarantee us victory! Look at our state, Ikari! The Third Child's incapacitated, the First is without an Eva to commandeer and the Second is barely able to synchronize...SEELE would love to see us go down! You just can give them a pretext to go forward with their plans!"

"They will not. Their troops are far from being ready to invade our quarters and even though, their Evas are still in construction, so there's no need to worry about that last part. If necessary, we can lead an all-out pre-emptive strike against them and everything will be alright. Do you really I haven't thought about it? Taking them out before they can wipe us from this world?" The Supreme Commander turned towards the older man, finally tearing his gaze off the white, dormant Angel.

"But still..."

"I've even thought, dear professor, about sending them a corrupted S2 engine, much like that of Unit 04. After all, we still have the schematics as well as the Engine's starting and loading parameters...it would be easy to duplicate the faulty organ and to drop it from a stealth bomber onto their Evas' holding hangars...as well as some others onto their secret arsenals. Those fools that keeping N² mines will keep them safe from harm, but they are wrong. You saw what happened in Nevada, right?" The old professor nodded numbly. "Do not mistake the power of the Holy Organ. After all, it has been created by God itself and offered to its most beloved sons."

_But the Almighty wouldn't have approved of their use, Ikari. I'm sure of it. Even our new god, Yui's vessel, wouldn't appreciate the sick dreams born of your madness._

"I...see. But I recommend against that choice. We still have time. SEELE seems to be waiting for something, don't they?"

"Yes."

"Do you think they're waiting for more Angels?"

"Preposterous. There weren't any mention of a nineteenth Angel, Fuyutsuki."

"There wasn't either any mention of Nevada's tragic accident, Ikari."

The Supreme Commander seemed to ponder that last part then spoke us, breaking the embarrassed silence that had fallen between them.

"If so, we'll have an excellent means to test the new weapon we've wrought and see how well it can be wielded."

"A new weapon..." the Vice Commander trailed off, looking back at the odd symbol etched on Lilith's purple mask.

The seven eyes of knowledge within the inverted triangle of difference, divided into two equal halves by a single, vertical line - the long lost sign of undividable evil and good.

Perfect omniscience with the undifferentiated power to change things.

Symbolizing in its greater whole a single state that none ever reached.

Godhood.

-

Shinji looked around him and saw only darkness, apart from the faint outlines of the medical equipment set all around him. As his eyes scanned the surroundings, slowly getting acquainted with the unlit state of the room, he soon found himself drawn to the only source of light in the area. The window.

He could see, through the shades, the distinctive form of the pyramidal building that towered over the vast forests of the Geofront, NERV's supreme headquarters. The triangular mass, symbol of ambition, of Man's trying to reach for the skies, bore into his retina...which once again, unknown to him, had begun once again to change color, fading from his familiar light brown to an almost pitch black...then reverting back to the previous state...then turning CRIMSON.

An odd feeling crept in his mind as he stared at the only sign of freedom in his room - the window. It started as a little tingle in the back of his head, which slowly grew to a light throb that made his thoughts spin and waver as dust in the wind. His vision blurred then came back to normal. His upper back ached, as if he was wearing a cilice around his shoulder, driving pikes of steel into his bare, tender flesh. But that feeling was coming from the INSIDE of his body, not the opposite. As if something was trying to get out of his shoulder blades and stretch out in the open.

"...What the..." he murmured, trying to control the pain that began to form in his cranium. He soon found that he was raising his head a little bit too much and that that was probably the source of the mental commotion. His muscles and nerves were still in shock from what he'd endured. _I shouldn't strain myself like that...it's killing my head. And if Misato were to hear that she would start complaining about my carelessness. And Asuka...well, she'd call me names...as usual... _He rested his head back into his pillow and looked at the ceiling.

Such an unfamiliar ceiling. Yet so familiar in another way.

_I must get a subscription to this place or rent my own private room_, he thought wryly. _Trouble always seems to find me when I need it the least._

His irises went back to their normal tint.

And to their owner's surprise, the amount of light in the room seemed to diminish dramatically, as his eyes readjusted to their original state.

"What...the hell?"

He looked around him, trying to find what had caused this curious phenomenon. But his pupils only met darkness, only a little amount of photons daring to go through the translucent, organic fabric and to strike the retina.

_This is freaking. Some seconds ago I could clearly see those computer things and now I cannot see anything...it's as if somebody had shut off the light._

Oh, well. It must have been my imagination. I shouldn't have tired myself so much.

And with that last thought, the Third Child relinquished himself to the sooth, lulling arms of Morpheus.

When he would wake up in the morning, he would not remember any of the curious feelings he had felt some moments ago.

And his eyes would be normal.

At least, for the time being.

* * *

_**To be continued...**_

**

* * *

****A/N:**

**01°)** Radiation is thought to be the origin of life itself, as well as the catalyst that is at the source of organic chemistry - thus living beings. Modern theories advance that primordial matter - carbon, oxygen, azotes and hydrogen - were, after and during the Big Bang forced together into new combinations by high levels of power in the form of radiations, that created new types of matter. These powerful waves created energy links between the molecules and built various types of agglomerations of different structures. As they became more and more complex and interacted of their own accord with their ever-changing environment, they created in the end highly sophisticated materials like diamond...and, in the end, the first true form of the life - the simplest ever found: bacteria.

Radiations also cause mutations in human beings, by damaging the DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) strand inside its protective nucleus and disturbing the cell's entire productive abilities, which depend directly on the DNA's extremely specific structure. If the DNA strand is damaged or corrupted, then the whole life of the cell may be at risk for it won't work correctly (giving the risk of developing skin cancer) and, of course, procreation might be hazardous, for in the DNA resides also the being's genetic patrimony. The offspring might be born with physical anomalies of deformities.

**02°)** Triangles are considered to be, in some ways, symbols of perfection and of difference. Some believe that triangles are shapes that do not change whatever the way you're trying to deform them - but that 'charm' can be broken if you disrupt it from the inside, hence the old belief that it brings misfortune to pass under a ladder - because you break its perfect shape. Otherwise the triangle, with its 'summit' heading upwards, is the old emblem of manhood (literally and figuratively) whilst its inverted counterpart symbolizes the womb of a woman - thuswomanhood and procreation. In mathematics, the triangle, also called 'delta' because of the Greek letter in the shape of a triangle, is the symbol of difference (a minus b), whilst the 'sigma' is the sign of a sum (a plus b).

**03°)** The whole part of the triangle of power along with the seven eyes of knowledge has been made up - mostly from some far-off beliefs and other traditions. As the Greek 'delta' letter is the symbol of difference, the eye in a triangle is also a sign that is found in freemasonry and most surprisingly, on the American one-dollar bills, in the left seal (the one who made the design was a freemason and the President at that time was his 'brother' in his freemason community so he let that pass on). Many have come, over decades, to consider it as the symbol of God or of knowledge - if not omniscience - but it, in fact, all comes down to old symbolism of which two examples have been put together. As for the seven eyes, it seems that it comes from the seven eyes of Yahweh, the Jewish god. Note also that the number seven is the symbol of perfection or wholeness - when the _seven_ churches built by St John are cited in the Bible's Book of Revelations (the Apocalypse) it is a metaphor: the character calling their names refers to _the_ Church, the whole institution as well as the faithful ones - and not to the places themselves.


	5. Chapter 05: Closer to the Skies While Y...

**Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Beast Inside**

**Written by abi2301**

**Chapter 05**

**v.01: 10/22/2004**

Official disclaimer: the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series are the intellectual and material property of Gainax Studios, ADVision, Inc., Shonen Ace magazine, Hideaki Anno and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. All rights reserved. 'NGE: The Beast Inside' is a purely fictional series based upon the original NGE and written for entertainment purpose only. No money is made out of it.

* * *

**Chapter 05: _Closer to the Skies / While You Were Sleeping I Wept_**

_The only thing we have to fear is fear itself._

**Franklin Delano ROOSEVELT, Inaugural address, 4 March 1933, in _Public Papers_ (1938) vol. 2, p. 1**

_The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith._

**Franklin Delano ROOSEVELT, Undelivered address for Jefferson Day, 13 Apr. 1945, final lines, in _Public Papers_ (1950) vol. 1, p. 6**

* * *

"Misato?"

"Yes, Asuka?"

"When will that idiot come back home?"

"Mmmh?" The Major's eyes gleamed with mischief. "Why do you ask?"

"Misato..." the redhead growled, knowing where it would lead when she got that particular voice, honey-coated and so sweet that men could fall onto the ground like flies if they were to hear it.

The purple-head let out a good hearty laugh. Even a week after Shinji's accident, she hadn't had much opportunities to have fun, especially with a certain German in your own apartment grumbling around about the way you cooked or did your chores. Not that Asuka didn't have a reason to complain...dirty dishes were starting to pile up in the sink, garbage bags were accumulating in the corner of the kitchen due to Misato's constant forgetting to get them down at the building's basement...

"You're so much fun to tease, Asuka, especially when it's about Shinji" she added, knowing that that last part would elicit from her more signs of embarrassment. She flipped open the lid of her tenth can of beer and downed its content in a matter of two milliseconds, then helping herself to her eleventh.

"WHAT? HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT?" she bellowed, blushing like mad and waving her arms around in a desperate attempt to 'vent off her steam'. "I'm only asking about that wussy pervert because I'm tired of instant ramen and cold meals that look more like biological weapons than edible food!" she snarled, pointing an accusing finger to the now slightly irked Major who was getting tired of those remarks about her culinary abilities.

"HEY! It's not that bad, you know! At least Pen-Pen doesn't complain about it!" she replied, gesturing at the warm-water penguin that was watching television right at that moment.

"That's because he cannot speak human language, smart ass! And it's not like he has a choice, right?"

"Then why don't you make your own meals yourself?" asked the vexed guardian, who took pride in her own independence, even if it was Shinji who prepared the 'family's' meals three times out of four. Once again, the self-proclaimed world's best Evangelion pilot, Asuka Soryu Langley, dismissed the argument with a wave of her hand, tilting her chin up in a clear sign or disdain.

"Such tasks are beneath me, Misato. You know it perfectly well, don't you? So, why should I do such a lowly thing when there's already someone around that can do it perfectly well?"

Misato then saw an opening. Already savoring her sweet revenge, she launched her attack, being the skilled tactician that she was. Even if she know how dangerous and lethal the counter-attack would be.

"Do you really appreciate his cooking THAT much or is it something else about him?" she asked with a mischievous wink, while guzzling down her golden beverage.

And once again, pure, unabated impulsiveness took over cold rationalism.

"MISATO!"

The laughter of a certain major, mingled with the indignant cries of a particular German, could be heard all over the city, as another day started for the citizens of Tokyo-3.

-

Yet, in one of the Japanese slowly awakening metropolis, a man had to deal with other matters...these ones not being of trivial nature but rather ones of the highest importance. The fight for his own life.

Sprinting through one of the city's small, abandoned streets surrounded by old houses that were built before for the Geofront's construction workers then abandoned when the project was finished somewhere around 2005 or 2006, the fugitive tried to find a place where he could find safety and salvation. His pursuer was on his tracks, he knew, and the surroundings didn't give him much of a protection against weapons. No policemen were to be found in that area, their attention being needed in the busy streets of the man-made fortress and country's capital and not in this deserted area where only rats, stray animals and the occasional homeless individuals or squatters tried to find a place to live. He jumped over scattered trash and fallen bins, not wanting to trip over all the filth that flooded this goddamn area and offer his stalker an easy target. Speaking of which... He looked around his shoulder and saw, from the corner of his eye, a small movement from his right!

_Oh damn! He's found me!_

Fearing the worse and already knowing what would happen in the next second, he suddenly lunged to the right and ducked, just in time to get out of the way of a heavy-caliber bullet, who tore through the air and passed where the fugitive's head had been mere second ago. The killer cursed and readjusted his aim. Aiming for a running man whilst trying to keep up the pace with him wasn't an easy task. The worse was that that man was trained to respond against such situations and he could see that his target's experience was kicking in. The job was proving to be most exciting, but it was beginning to wear down his patience. Certain tasks needed to be done fast. The sooner, the better.

The killer dropped to a kneeling position and brought his Special Forces HecklerKoch Mark 23 US SOCOM OHWS up to eye-level, resting one of his elbows upon his raised knee for better stabilization, adopting the classical Rapid Aim Fire posture. The sights were set to bear onto the target's back, between the shoulder blades. The killer steadied his ragged breath, and waiting for his next breath out to squeeze the customized trigger. All then happened in a matter of milliseconds. The hammer was suddenly released from its cocked position and, pushed forward by its own spring, slammed on the firing pin's end, driving the little metal rod into the cartridge's butt end. The shock set off a small fuse, which, in turn, set fire to the heavy explosive grains. Solid matter turned into its gaseous state, whilst chemical reactions of many sorts took place in the little metallic cylinder. Carbon, hydrogen, azotes and oxygen mixed up and expanded at an impossible rate, pushing and ripping the bullet away from the casing and propelling it through the 5.7'' long barrel at a speed near to Mach 3. The right-hand grooving made the projectile spin, giving it a more flattened trajectory and better accuracy for the killer. The heavy .45 ACP traveled through the air and finally made contact, tearing through flesh and bone, sending its target jerk to the side as if it had been punched and tumble to the ground, writhing in pain.

_Hit._

The killer sighed in frustration but kept a grin on his grim face. The man had once again ducked, which had prevented the bullet from hitting him in the neck, receiving it instead in the left shoulder. He stood up and ran over to the fallen form, keeping his weapon trained on the prone figure on the ground. His target was moaning and cursing at the same time, knowing that for him it meant 'game over'.

_No...only wounded._

The killer looked at his fallen prey, his cold eyes searching for any hidden weapons. One of his previous victims had met the same fate as this man, hit in the shoulder and immobilized, but had waiting for him with a hidden _navaja_, waiting for his attacker to come check on him. He'd then thrown the long knife at the hit man, in a desperate attempt to kill him and walk away alive. Of course, he'd failed but had still succeeded in badly wounding his opponent. Too bad the pain had made him squeeze his trigger finger.

_But not yet dead._

"Nothing, personal, kid" the killer said looking at his target straight in the eyes with an apologetic look. "Just business."

_Well, not yet._

And before the hired mercenary fired a third bullet into his cranium, the agent couldn't but feel injustice and incomprehension at what was happening. He'd worked for ten good years at NERV, in Section Three, as a spy and occasional hit man downtown, when the UN-owned organization badly needed a certain person dead...and now...instead of being the hunter...he was the prey. Betrayal, O ye bitter betrayal, he thought. What had he done lately to deserve such a fate? The last assignment he got was to speed down a street and to hit a certain dark-haired boy but not kill him.

_Life was so unfair_, was his last thought.

A bullet came to confirm his opinion.

-

"Hey, Touji, come over here!" yelled the excited form of Kensuke Aida, waving an arm at his friend while holding a folder case in his other hand.

They were in Tokyo-3's fourth municipal park, two blocks away from their school, the area where they usually met before walking back together to their classroom and the incessant drone of their old, marked teacher.

"What's it? Porn again? Aircrafts?" the second stooge asked wearily, while thumbing his left arm's prosthesis. Even though he'd finally got used to these masses of synthetic rubber and aluminum, he still had these infamous 'phantom feelings', wrong electric data sent by severed nerves that still had not got over the fact that their extensions had been cut off.

"No, you moron. I just hacked into my old man's computer and I got messages sent by NERV about Shinji."

The 2A Class' designated stooge's eyes lit up when the Third Child's name left his friend's lips and made contact with his eardrums.

"What? So, how's he? TELL ME!"

"Hey, hey, calm down!" the bespectacled boy hissed, bringing his finger to his lips as a sign of silence. "Don't you want, too, to tell those fucking dudes about the fact that I'm cracking my dad's e-mails?" He gestured towards Tokyo-3's denizens, which were doing their early park stroll or just going through the public area to get at their job.

"Okay...okay, I get the point." whispered Suzuhara, who draped his arm around his friend's shoulder and brought their heads together so that nobody would hear them. However, his sudden gesture did make some heads turn which somewhat unnerved Kensuke, who didn't like that type of attention, especially when it came to sensitive, ill-gained data. "So...tell me now."

"According to these sheets here..." he pointed to the stack of papers under his arm. "...Shinji has been in the operation room for more than fourteen hours. I've found a lot of very interesting data here about the technology they've used during..." he noticed his friend's glare...and stopped ranting. "...well, the fact is that...there are a lot of detailed reports about his treatment...a least during his stay in the ER...but after that...for the next twelve hours...there was nothing...as if he'd disappeared from the face of the earth."

Touji frowned. "And so? What's your point?"

"Well, I...just...well, it's hard to explain...maybe it's all those conspiracies that are finally getting back to me or else...but I just...oh crap" he sighed, not able to voice his feelings. "It's just that...with everything we've gone through...I don't think I trust NERV anymore."

Touji met him with a sardonic glare, whilst showing him his artificial arm "Well, that's NEWS to me, blockhead! I just CAN'T BELIEVE IT!"

"...Shinji goes inside an ER; lots of data get out for processing and filing. Right? Then, suddenly, there's nothing. Poof. All gone to planet Mars or a place only Beelzebub knows. Don't you find that strange?"

"Oh, come on, even if I know that NERV's always up to no good, that DOES-N'T MEAN A-NY-THING." he said loudly. "The fact that there are no records of his stay at the hospital doesn't mean that he had actually disappeared during that period! Come on, Kensuke. Shinji's NERV's most valuable asset, even with the Devil around" he added, referring to Asuka, whom he'd never gotten along with, even for Shinji's sake and Misato's eyes. "Why would they make him disappear? You're making no sense, you know. No news, so bad news. That's your reasoning?"

Kensuke sighed. He should have know that his friend would have reacted in such a way. Ever since NERV had cost most of his friends a great deal of happiness, sanity and even health (in Touji's case), he'd got a little more than disgusted at the UN organization. He was frustrated that he had not been chosen as an Eva pilot, unlike Touji, and angered at what had happened at his acquaintances. During the attack of the fourteenth, he'd reflected on how lonely he had become, with one friend in the hospital and the other momentarily confined in a cell. And ever since...he'd hold somewhat of a grudge against that now universally cursed UN section. He gazed at a blooming Sakura and sighed. _Life being born whilst another one fights against death._

"Well...that's not everything...there were also reports about...an incident...two or three days before...when Shinji woke up. I don't know the details but it had caused a hell of a panic down there at the hospital."

"What?"

"You heard me. Something made some people down there freak out. Or at least that's what I understood."

"Must have been Asuka PMS'ing" yawned Touji, who had finally let go of his friend and started back towards the school, snatching his bag from where he had put it on the ground and putting the sling around his shoulder.

Kensuke could only sigh at his friend's incomprehensiveness.

-

Shinji woke up to the sound of glass _tink_ing against metal, tearing him from his dreamless sleep. But as he was too tired to open his eyes, he just decided to just lay, eyes closed, and get himself slowly reacquainted with consciousness. He sniffed, trying to find a distinctive smell that could give him a hint of what was happening around him.

For a millisecond or two, a flood of aromas hit the sensitive buds in his nose, feeding his nerves with thousands of different feelings that nearly made him start in surprise. He could smell anything...white spirit, mercurochrome, disinfectant, antiseptic, allergy-free synthetic air freshener, gauze...he could even discern, between all those...the smell of his bed sheets, which had been, he could _feel_ it, recently changed. And suddenly, it receded. _What the heck_, he thought?

And he opened his eyes, the gesture causing his head to throb for a moment or two, eliciting a moan of pain from his dried lips.

The nurse, who was busy noting his vitals' data on a notepad, started when she heard the Third Child groan and move around. She turned her head towards the bed...and met the light brown eyes of the legendary Unit 01 pilot, who was fighting with the overhead's fixed lighting's glare in order to see her features.

"Oh, hello...mister Ikari...g...good morning..." stuttered nurse Ijiro, nervous about the fifteen-year-old boy that was laying in front of her. She had heard of the curious phenomenon that had plagued most of the staff's mind lately and was rather scared at the idea of being alone with him especially after WHAT had happened, even if she only knew mere rumors about it...not having been informed of the true circumstances of such a disturbing event.

"...G...good..." The Third Child tried to cough but with a dry throat, it was rather hard. Ijiro saw it and hurried to the sink to fill a glass with water. She came back to the young man and brought the liquid up to his lips. He greedily swallowed it, his mouth nearly absorbing everything like a sponge and sparing nothing for his sore windpipe.

"...Th...thank you."

"...It...it's nothing..."

"...It...it's okay...I don't...want to be...a trouble...for...you..." he croaked.

"No, it...it's alright. It's my job to take care of others, you know."

"But...still..."

The nurse shook her head. People like her had necessarily to be gifted with patience for they had to deal, nearly on a daily basis, with people that were horribly stubborn and had to master the art to talk, without getting mad, with those individuals. Mostly they were people who desperately wanted to know about their health's status, who didn't want to receive shots or who cringed when their bloodied bandages were changed and so on, getting in the medical staff's path and preventing them from doing their job. But she had never seen people who actually insisted on not being a trouble. This boy was really unique, in more than one way.

-

"Ma'am! Ma'am?" asked Lieutenant Maya Ibuki as she entered NERV's third bioengineering research laboratory, in search for her superior and mentor. The MAGI's monthly checkup had been finished a few hours earlier, a titanic task that requested dozens of technicians and mathematicians in order to ensure that everything went right. The operating system of the personality-gifted supercomputer was nothing like any normal one's would be. Even the American National Security Agency (NSA), which owned the highest number of such sophisticated and powerful equipment, could not match such perfection and refinement. There were multiple reasons to that. The first being the fact that the MAGI used quantum physics and nanotechnology to process the billions of bytes that were coursing through its liquid- and crystal-state integrated circuits, making it all the more hard to maintain in good shape. Even the smallest piece of equipment needed a whole team to be repaired because of its complexity. Second, the MAGI did not use only millions of microchips to function properly. It used synthetic brains, copies of the now-departed creator of the gigantic supercomputer system's as an attempt to boost the already tremendous-sized processing speed, up to thousands of yottaFLOP/S, which meant more than 1000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 floating point operations per second (FLOP/S). The human organ differed from its electronic counterpart in the fact that it could analyze thousands if not millions of data bits at the same time but from different specialized points of the gray matter, compared to the microchipthat could only process one information at the time, but at a very high speed and in one dedicated area only. The MAGI symbolized the ultimate bridge between the two estranged cousins and required both a technical and a medical team to man it. And, being assigned to the biomechanical research part of NERV, one of Lt. Maya Ibuki's numerous tasks was to watch over the MAGI's status and help Dr. Akagi, Naoko Akagi's daughter and successor, maintain the three processing towers in a good state.

"She's not here, lieutenant," a scientist said, looking up from his own laptop.

"Isn't she? I thought she would...I've tried to call here several times now but she isn't answering her cell phone..." trailed a surprised Maya. She had been searching for the blond-haired woman throughout the entire Geofront Complex and had even gone down to the last level of Terminal Dogma - that is, the last level her rank afforded her to enter. Most of the underground beneath the Main LCL Plant were sealed off to the entire staff, save for a few who knew what was hidden in there. The two commanders, along with the Project E's chief supervisor, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, were the topmost of the list.

"Well, she isn't. I haven't seen her here for a month or two and God knows if I ever leave this place" he said, gesturing to the sixty-foot long staff room. "We have consigns to reroute all of her incoming messages to her own Palmtop and to send all of her papers to her desk, so there's no need for her to come down here."

"Strange..." muttered the short-haired 'bridge bunny', tracing a finger over her pursed lips. "...She used to spend a lot of time in the labs, so why wouldn't she be here?" All Evangelions were repaired, except for Unit 00, which couldn't be salvaged and was thus deemed a total loss. The rare remaining blueprints of the blue-colored Eva were bits of shredded flesh and parts of molten armor, too few to hope for a possible restoration. The MAGI had been checked and rebooted successfully. The Children were okay; their synch tests had been done without much to say on the pilot's improvement...she froze, recalling the status of one particular boy, who had left the combat roster because of his situation.

"...Ah, I think I know where she might be" she told the scientist, politely taking her leave. "I'll be heading there and if I've still got enough luck for this day I might find here there."

"Well, good luck" lieutenant, called the man as she passed through the doorframe, letting the metallic door sliding behind her, and heading for the third hospital.

_She seems to abandon some of her duties_, reflected Maya Ibuki as she hurriedly crossed hall after hall, clutching her folder case to her chest. _She is preoccupied...or too busy. It's really easy to notice. She seems to zone out even when you're talking to her about first-priority information and other matters that are of topmost importance...weeks ago she would have been more attentive than that even asking me for more details and giving me more assignments and other tasks. Really...what's gotten into her? Even before our first Angel one could find her spending most of her time in research labs or near the Eva cages, looking at computer or bio data, typing reports or commands to the MAGI...nothing like she is right now. I guess our war is taking its toll among us..._

That last thought did nothing to reassure the young Maya Ibuki about the current situation. The whole bridge had been somewhat shocked at the news of the Third Child's accident, being those responsible of his well being in the battlefield. For them, a wrong order or a wrong command entered in the MAGI system could mean thousands of dollars of damages, destruction, pain or even death. They had learnt that the hard way, during the attack of the Eleventh, Ireul. They had been helpless when the fifteenth, Arael, had mind-raped Asuka, forcing her to remember every secret or unpleasant memory she had cast into the darkest part of her brain. They had her strangled cries over the comm. network, as her soul finally gave up its fight against the modified AT Field ray the Messenger of God, patron of birds.

But Shinji was another case.

God knew Asuka didn't deserve what she had endured during her psychic attack, but Shinji did even less.

All he needed was peace and some rest.

The young lieutenant couldn't but feel a little bit comforted when she remembered that Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, would probably be there on his side to help him get better. Her mentor would surely help him.

Ironically, if Fate had a mouth to voice her thoughts, she would have said, with a wry grin:

_I__s that what you're thinking? Well, you're an optimistic one._

-

"So, Shinji...how are you feeling?" asked Ritsuko Akagi as she prepared a shot.

"...Okay, I guess..." the boy coughed up. For some strange reason, his lungs and windpipe seemed to be somewhat constricted. Part of it was because of the trauma, he guessed. The other part being the operation and the drugs that the nurses and doctors were pouring into his body.

"Well, it's not as if I could ask you that question when I know the answer better than you, right?"

Shinji nodded. She was right, but he didn't know that she was to a bigger extent. He looked at the needle with eyes filled of apprehension, not wanting to have another hole punctured into him.

"What...what are you doing?"

The doctor seemed to cringe, nearly mistaking his question for a accusation. _He doesn't know, my dear. He doesn't know. Take it easy. Do it quick and don't think about it._ But a smile soon replacing the grimace that marred her face. "I'm just preparing a vaccine, that's all. It's still a prototype but we've already got some good results with other people, so...I expect it to work on you."

"What does it do?"

"Well, in fact...we're trying to find a replacement for a lot of vaccines, a sort of panacea that would provide you with a multiple array of protections. Throughout your life you have to get a ridiculously high number of shots - against tetanus, hepatitis, chickenpox, and so on. What we attempt to do is to reduce that number by half of something among this proportion. A vaccine with multiple virtues, if you want. Since you're too weak to defend yourself against all the illness that threaten to take your body over when your defenses are currently down, you need something to help you and provide short-term..."

"...I think I got it...am I so weak as that?" came the feeble reply. She could help but see the tired, apologetic smile that appeared on his smooth face, with strain and pain written all over his features. It was a shame she didn't have a mirror to show in what state he was, but, she amended, the boy didn't need it. Especially now.

"...More than you think." she plunged the syringe in one of the child's vein and emptied the content of the small cylinder in his bloodstream. She hadn't lied to him; it was indeed a vaccine, but it was also an mix of nutrients that would help the previously injected cells to embedthemselves in their environment and start fusing with it - before Phase Metamorphosis truly began. The strange readings observed these past few days were a preview of what would happen next, but she knew that it would be slower and much less spectacular to the boy's point of view. In fact, he wouldn't even notice it...he would slowly get used to it. "What you need right now is rest, sleep, peace and quiet, Shinji. You don't want to stay here longer than needed, right?" The Third Child mouthed 'no', too tired to even say something. "Especially if your father requested you to get back on duty sooner than expected, right?" She saw Shinji's eyes darken...and for a moment...thought to see the irises flash in anger...turning BLOOD RED. The sight nearly made her gasp but she kept a straight face, removing the syringe from the Child's eye. When she looked back at him, his eyes were perfectly normal, but his face was wearing a frown that made her remember of her late lover and superior, Gendo Ikari.

"Anyway, you'll be able to get out of here in a couple of weeks, don't worry about it. You'll have to use crutches or even a wheelchair but you'll be back to normal, I promise. Just...don't get too impatient..." _Why would he? It isn't like I ever saw him jumping in anticipation all around, did I? That would be more like Asuka to do so, _she thought. "...And don't try to move around too much...or your bones will strain too much and won't heal properly."

"Yes, Ritsuko...don't worry. I won't" Shinji said, with closed eyes. He was slowly drifting to sleep and the doctor couldn't help but think at the vaccine she had given to him. Its effects were already taking place. _Impressive. His body has already absorbed the shot. The changes are really definite._

"Well, try to sleep, anyway. You'll need it."

A small nod from her patient answered her counsel.

She looked at his face for a minute or two and then saw something that nearly freaked her out.

All over the bare parts of her body, including his face and arms, she could see dark, faint lines that started to form on his skin, and expand at an incredible rate. At first they were but small traces of gray, but as they got clearer and sharper, they become long, intricate threads that turned to the deepest pitch of black, nearly bulging out of the Third Child's skin, Ritsuko Akagi couldn't help but retreat hastily, fearing that they might explode or something close to it, wondering what she had done to the poor pilot.

The 'anomaly' had traced over the child's skin an extremely complex network of straight lines and of curves, filaments that threatened to spring forth, like the hungry tentacles of a Lovecraftian beast. She could see countless ramifications here and there, some of them leading to thicker rows of black, eerily familiar to a tree's branches. What was worse was that they seemed to pulse with an invisible force, causing the fibers to change colors, from pitch black to glaring red, not unlike the flickering of a car's indicator. It looked like a demonic spider had woven its dark web over the prone figure of the Eva pilot, who still slept as if nothing had ever happening, pursuing his calm journey in the senseless realm of dreams.

His face was nearly unrecognizable because of those dark strings and very few would've realized that its owner was the top prize of NERV, the Third Child, the only pilot that could currently tame the unstoppable raging beast that was Unit 01. But all would have recoiled in fear and disbelief, not wanting to hear the truth and fleeing before that horrific phenomenon.

When the blond-haired scientist finally found within herself the force to get back near the bed, she noticed curious patterns that reminded her of basic courses she had taken in university. Then realization dawned on her.

HIS NERVES.

THOSE ARE HIS NERVES, her mind screamed, recognizing the patterns but noticing some curious changes, too. It was much more complex than a normal human's. It had grown in size and she could see the extent of the sped-up evolution process. _My God_.

His nerves...feeling an odd apprehension, her gaze looked downwards, to the unbuttoned collar of his hospital gown. And the rest...

She pulled the hem of the fabric, and uncovered the child's chest.

She nearly screamed at what she saw.

Seven eyes and a divided triangle of black were etched onto the skin above the sternum, their features made out of small, thin cords of nervous matter; the geometric figure suddenly seemed to stare back at the scientist, as if asking her what she was doing or what she had done.

The only answer she could come up with was to put back his gown correctly and get out of this hellish place as soon as possible, without panicking and thus alerting her subordinates.

When the door finally slid shut behind her, a sound echoed through the silent room.

Its tone full of pain and dripping with suffering.

"Mother."

The Third Child was once again running on a high fever.

-

Down in Central Dogma, in one of the Evangelion holding bays, in the fifth cage, a being was awakening, its mind torn from its light sleep by waves of torment, a terrible call emitted by another individual, who was currently writhing in pain.

Eva Unit 01's eyes once again began to glow of their own accord.

Twenty meters away from the gigantic mecha, whose awareness was once again restored to its full height, a silent, figure clothed in black noticed the event and turned around to get a better view of the eerie scene. A soft smirk edged on his lips, as somber satisfaction entered his mind, realizing that his plans were coming to fruition.

"Soon, Yui, very soon..."

-

A hooded figure looked over the large landscape in front of him, standing inside one of the highest buildings of Neo-New York, looking at the horizon, as if waiting for a message to come from the skies. He gazed for a moment at the dark clouds that lingered above the rebuilt megalopolis' zenith, looking for signs of what he was looking for. Suddenly, his still form seemed to tilt its head to the side, as if trying to listen to a silent call that none but him could perceive from the silence that pervaded his room.

And, as the storm finally broke loose in the form of a lightning bolt rippling down to earth and as the water inside the black nebula soon relinquished itself to the pull of gravity, the man smiled. The time had come.

Myriads of droplets soon started to fall from the heavens, providing once again, in their relentless and never-ending cycle, the earth with a welcome manna, giving all forms of life new means to continue their journey through existence.

"The time has come. The guardians are awakening."

Behind his red-white visor, Lorenz Keele couldn't but feel a dark feeling of satisfaction.

"Our final test has come."

-

As soon as the words died on Keele's lips never to be heard again, curious phenomena started to occur around the world, as if triggered by a deep signal from afar, faithful to the rendezvous of time. No onewas yet to witnessthem for they all took place in areas abandoned by Man either by the aftereffects of Second Impact or simply by the inhospitality the surroundings offered.

The few who were to see the curious signs of sleeping lives slowly returning to full awareness and power were the rare members of the local fauna and flora, who, as soon as the events begun to make them known, flew away -for those who could, at least- in a desperate attempt to get out of the grasp of a nightmare they knew dormant for times so long that even Mankind could not reckon. A wave of fear and of dread started to wash all over those large areasthat soon returned to its primordial state -dead but at the mercy of raw powers.

The ground shook for hundreds of meters, the surface starting to crack or develop sudden chasms, which tore apart the local landscape. The water started to churn, as if an unearthly fire had been lit beneath, transforming them into terrifying tidal waves or enormous geysers, unfathomable spears of foam that sprung to a hundred meters. Winds started howling, motioned by forces unseen for millennia and sweeping over large barren terrains, ripping apart vegetation and driving away tons of dust in a demonic whirlwind that could only exist in Mankind's deepest fears. In some areas, even thunder could be hear rolling across large zones, with dozens or hundreds of blinding electric bolts tearing the sky apart in a deadly dance, recalling the anger of lost gods of old, that Man had learnt to fear and then to forget.

When the commotion started to die down, as if something had appeased its source, silence reigned once again...for a short time, at least...only to let place to a new pandemonium. The grounds and abysses were rent apart, revealing dark masses of biblical proportions that slowly rose towards the surface, towards the light that they had forgotten. Tremors ran throughout the earth, heralding once again the arrival and the coming of Mankind's worst fears. The avatars of a nightmare long thought impossible yet given form in shapes of terror and power that only higher beings could comprehend...leaving only man to weep in fear before them and hope that the horrific sight would pass away and leave them alive.

Some of them soon returned to the slumber, as if deeming the time unfit for further movement, whilst other resumed, slowly but surely, a long journey towards the origin of their waking call. A place called Tokyo-3.

The Angels were once again awakened by the folly of Man.

-

_"A man was found dead in the thirteenth northern district this morning, apparently shot twice. The police was alerted by an anonymous call and were led to a spot where they found the dead body, which is now pending identification. According to Tokyo-3 Police Headquarters' spokesman, some of the evidence found on the scene clearly point to the local gangs, which are in constant conflict in order to gain control of some run-down areas and do not hesitate to 'get even' with their rivals. In local news..."_

Zap.

_"...NASA reports that the hole in the ozone layer has widened by 14 per centover these last few years, probably because of the recent recrudescence of solar eruptions, a phenomenon worsened by the aftereffects of the Second Impact, most notably the presence of radioactive dust and other noxious gasses in the atmosphere, which chemically and physically prevent the formation of new ozone - thus foiling the natural refilling of the hole. According to governmental studies..."_

Zap.

_"...Don't you love me, Tomoe? Look at me, answer me! I would give any..."_

Zap.

_"...Still, Japan's economical growth has seriously decreased these last few years because most great companies haven't made enough revenue to their satisfaction. Foreign investors do not trust enough the country's post-Second Impact financial abilities and know that that too few income..."_

Zap.

_"...Always...Coca-Cola! Available in your nearest department store or supermarket..."_

Zap.

_"...Reality shows still fuel numerous polemics around the world, even a decade after its appearance on pre-Second Impact television channels and on the international media market shortly after. _Big BrotherFame Academy_ or _The Bachelor_ are examples of mythical shows that millions of people still remember even ten years after having watched them - a clear snapshot on how much impact reality TV has on society. Most audiences are still quite divided about their feelings and opinion for this type of entertainment, as ethics and moral matters are widely..."_

Zap.

_"...What? Where did you put the money? Are you out of your mind? If we don't give it back, they will..."_

Zap.

_"...Observed increased volcanic activity in northern Japan as well as..."_

_Grunt._

Zap.

_"...And now, what are you going to do? Are you up for the next question or do you want to quit with your 100,000 dollars? Once again, it's up to you...it's your choice...but now, seeing how much luck you've had so far, I would advise you to..."_

"AAARGH!" screamed a clearly vexed German, flipping the TV off and throwing the nearly crushed remote on the ground. The day had not turned out as well as she had hoped it to, with the two 'stooges' making her life a real hell, just by being in the same room as her and annoying her with perverted remarks and talking about things that were way beneath her. The Second Child, ultimate Angel-slayer and world-renowned Eva pilot, hanging out with those two, much less suffering their presence? Hah! The gods really have fallen on their heads, she thoughts, as she recalled the title of pre-Second Impact movie. Even Pen-Pen would be better than them, even though he wasn't a better choice.

"MY LIFE SUCKS!" she said to no one. And she knew why she was so screwed.

"Damn it, damn it! Why do I have to always think about you! WHY!"

She flopped down on the couch, propping her legs on one of the armrests and shoving a pillow under her head for added comfort.

"You idiot."

She sighed, discontent clearly written on her face. She took a magazine, flipped a couple of pages and growled in annoyance as more and more annoying stuff came to her eyes. Improved short messages networks, new makeup, famous actress divorcing, pictures of the war in northern Italy and Switzerland...PREGNANCY TESTS?

"RRRGH! As if I needed to read it! Assholes!"

She threw the source of her anger at the nearest bin and chose something else that would be more agreeable to read...only to shred it in pieces when the words 'STRESS' and 'MIND', written in bold, appeared in her eyes' path.

"WHAT THE HELL?"

She glared at the ceiling, as if trying to burn through it and to see the sky above her. But the recipient of her boiling rage was not of material essence, at least not to many beliefs.

"You really have a fucked-up sense of humor, you know that, you son of a...!" she stopped, recalling her mother's lectures about God and how he didn't like to be called bad names or to be blamed for errors that weren't his own but ours.

That only helped fuel her anger towards the celestial being, but after a minute or two, the feeling subsided...and once again thoughts revolving around a certain individual started to fill her mind.

"You idiot."

She looked around her, at the empty living room. Misato was still at work and would not come back before seven in the afternoon, which left her alone with her thoughts and an already drunk warm-water penguin.

"You really need to come back, Shinji", she murmured reluctantly, not liking the statement but admitting the truth behind it. "...Things are not the same when you're not there."

Her eyes started to well up with tears, which she angrily wiped off, trying to destroy the signs of her hidden weakness. Even if nobody was here to witness it, she still wouldn't let it show up. She was stronger than that and had to prove it...not only to other but especially to herself.

"Damn it, you f...wuss! Look at what you've done!" she scolded him as if he was there, near her and already apologizing with a sorry look.

"You really need to come back...Shinji."

The next words were only a murmur, so low that nobody, even her, could hear it.

"I miss you."

* * *

_**To be continued...**_

* * *

**A/N:**

**01°)** The HecklerKoch Mark 23 Mod. 00 US SOCOM Objective Handgun Weapon System actually exists but is not often used even though more than two thousand four hundred units were exclusively built for the US. It's an automatic pistol designed specifically for the US Special Forces at the bidding of the United States Special Operations Command (US SOCOM), hence its name. Being 245mm long (overall) and featuring a 145mm-long hexagonal barrel, most of the US SOCOM's external coating and body (mostly the slide and the magazine well) is made of high resistance polymers and of anticorrosive paint, which make it nearly invulnerable to damage due to saltwater and dust. Fed with an extra large magazine of twelve .45ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol, 11.43x23mm cartridge) rounds, the US SOCOM is extremely powerful, indeed fulfilling its task of replacing the old but extremely effective -and still used- Colt M1911 (the famous Colt .45 pistol). The blowback is reduced by a double-stage recoil spring. Because of its bulkiness and big size, the US SOCOM is not that used and most operatives prefer either the German HK USP - a scaled-down US SOCOM and the actual father of the American weapon , the Beretta M9, the SIG-Sauer P226 or the customized Wilson Combat CQB pistol, an improved commando version of the 1911-vintage M1911. The US SOCOM can be fitted with a Knight Armaments Quick Attach/Detach QD silencer for silent take-downs (it provides a 35db sound reduction in 'wet' mode and suppresses the flash) and with a laser pointer/illuminator/tactical flashlight module that is mounted under the receiver, in front of the trigger guard.

**02°)** The National Security Agency (NSA) was created in 1952 by President Truman, in order to retrieve signals (SIGINT) and electronic intelligence (ELINT) from either enemy nations or even the American people that could help fight threats against national security. Using dozens of supercomputers (the true number being highly classified, as well as the extent of their true capabilities) to crack up digital codes to decipher e-mails sent by terrorists, uncover a spy (which they did quite a number of times during the Cold War, like Burgess, McLean...)or listen to a suspected enemy of state's telephone conversation, the NSA is one of the United States' most powerful agencies, with more than thirty-eight thousand employees and an annual budget that far exceeds the five billion dollars. Since much of their activities are held secret, not much is known about them. NSA is headquartered at Fort George Gordon Meade, 9800 Savage Road, Maryland - the complex being in essence a small town with its own resources and lodgings for the cryptographers.

**03°)** There are many types of supercomputers, all of which are distinguished by the numbers of microchips they hold inside. The more they have, the greater their processing speed is. The _sequential_ computers are your average desktop PC, with a single chip; they are also known as 1st generation computer. The second generation is instead nicknamed _vectorial_ and have at least -or more- a dozen chips and are used for fast processing but nothing very ambitious. The third generation _massively parallel_ systems have more than a _thousand_ of these chips but are enormous in size, most of them as big as a phone booth. Their speed ranges from several gigaFLOP/S (billion -10e9- FLOP/S), teraFLOP/S (a _thousand_ billion -10e12- FLOP/S) and, more rarely, petaFLOP/S (10e15 FLOP/S) The most known manufacturers in the world are Meiko, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Thinking Machines Corporation (gone bankrupt in 1995) and Intel. The world's greatest concentration of supercomputers is Fort George Gordon Meade, in the USA (the NSA's headquarters) whilst the second is a university in Japan, where most of their machines are used to estimate the universe's age and are working 24/7.

The fastest supercomputer in the world is held by an American private company (probably linked to SETI) and is used to process and analyze EM and radio readings from space and calculate the probability of encountering extraterrestrial life. It is the size of two football fields and cost more than a billion dollars. The fastest _commercial_ supercomputer has been made by NEC and has a processing speed of 60+ teraFLOP/S and is designed for mass production, sale and leasing.


	6. Chapter 06: Welcome Home Putting Back T...

**Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Beast Inside **

**Written by abi2301**

**Chapter 06**

**v.01: 10/25/2004**

Official disclaimer: the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series are the intellectual and material property of Gainax Studios, ADVision, Inc., Shonen Ace magazine, Hideaki Anno and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. All rights reserved. 'NGE: The Beast Inside' is a purely fictional series based upon the original NGE and written for entertainment purpose only. No money is made out of it.

* * *

**Chapter 06: _Welcome Home / Putting Back Together The Shards Of A Life_**

_God is subtle but he is not malicious._

**Albert EINSTEIN, remark made at Princeton University, May 1921, in _R. W. Clark Einstein_ (1973) ch. 1**

_Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind._

**Albert EINSTEIN, _Science, Philosophy and Religion: a Symposium_ (1941) ch. 13**

_I never think of the future. It comes soon enough._

**Albert EINSTEIN, in an interview, given on the _Belgenland_, December 1930**

* * *

_Four weeks have passed since Shinji's accident. The days, finally, have returned back to their usual and welcome spirit of routine, once again plunging back the NERV employees to a more peaceful state. No more unusual event were to be witnessed and rumors have finally calmed down, up to point of only being remembered as bad memories due to stress and overwork. Worries and uncertainty have disappeared as the young man known as Shinji Ikari became better, coming back to full health. His legs have healed faster than one would expect him to. His doctors attributed his fast recovery to the high amount of drugs they had given him. No one was surprised though, except for those who had seen the 'anomalies' spreading throughout the Third Child's body, as they knew the full capabilities of the vaccines and other fluids that the E-project research division could create. Even Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, the ever-composed scientist, couldn't but smirk at the thought, knowing the full extent of its meaning._

_The staff finally returned back to their previous tasks with greater spirits. Most of them had been able to see the injured pilot at the hospital and wish him a good recovery, which, in turn, helped cheer the boy up - a welcome distraction to the austere sights that the room could provide to its occupant. Even Asuka Soryu Langley had visited him, even though she had made known to her acquaintances that she was there because one of her friends had asked her to. But some knew better, like a certain pig-tailed class representative and a purple-haired major who would find in her complaining new material for blackmail and teasing._

_Much to the others' surprise, Rei had also been seen paying a visit to the Third Child's room, to enquire about the pilot's status and ask him some questions that, as usual, made no sense to a normal mind. Most of them were existential or philosophical, which made matters harder to deal with. But she always went back with answers that seemed to satisfy her. The interaction between the two chosen children seemed to have, to a very trained eye, some bad effect on Asuka. One could see her eyebrow twitching and the corners of her lips curling in a soundless snarl. But none saw it as she kept herself true to her reputation, with chides and comments that would made others either cringe or blush. Only Touji Suzuhara and Misato Katsuragi could find within themselves the will and the courage to talk back...Rei, for her part, remained silent. Some things never change, mused a certain dark-haired boy as he looked at the arguing parties with an apologetic smile._

_And finally, at long last, came the day of Shinji's release from the hospital's care._

-

"Come on, idiot!" came the voice of a miffed Asuka. "I want to come back home as soon as possible and I don't want to drag your sorry ass all the way back so you better hurry up!"

"Sorry, Asuka..." panted Shinji as he strained to walk with his crutches on. "...I'm coming...just wait for me..."

"Give him a break, Asuka" said a worried Misato, keeping her pace near to Shinji so that she could help him in case he couldn't make it back to home. He had taken exercises, willingly given by the hospital staff, but he still wasn't used to his new state. And dealing with it at school would be worse, he reflected. No lifts but countless flights of stairs. Ugh. "...It's not easy for him, you know. He's just coming out from his bed."

"...Yeah, yeah, I know!" she replied, waving her hand dismissively, as she led the way, walking down one of the hospital's corridors, towards the main lobby and the reception.

"Are you okay?" asked Misato to Shinji, with a worried frown over her face.

"...Yes, Misato. Just...tired..."

"Well, once you get back home, everything will be okay!" cheered his guardian, smiling at the thought of having him back at their living quarters...and once again being cooked edible breakfast and dinner...the thought nearly made her sigh in relief. _Hmmm. Good ol' Japanese meals with tasty bitter and sweet sauce, along with..._

"Is everything alright, Misato?" asked a concerned Shinji, snapping her from her reverie.

"Yes, why?"

"You're drooling."

The Major sweat-dropped, not noticing the little string of saliva dropping from the corner of her mouth. Of course, and it would've been unnatural not to hear it, the indignant and disgusted voice of a particular German ringed through the corridor, her tone making the pair behind her cringe.

"Ewwww...you're really disgusting, Misato! You're no better than this idiot!" she bellowed then turned with a huff, her nose held high in sign of contempt.

"Ah...well..." sighed an embarrassed Major Katsuragi, as she passed a hand through her silky hair and already wishing for a six-packs of beer that she would gulp in less time than to say 'hello!' "...Well...err... apart from that Shinji, how've you been these past few days? I haven't had the time to visit you, so..."

"It's been like hell, Misato. Even with the SDAT you've brought me back I've had trouble not to die of boredom."

"Ah...yes...hospitals have always been like that" she said, recalling a particular experience she had had right after Second Impact. She had spent more than a year in secluded confinement, in a catatonic state, refusing to see anyone, yet let someone approach her. The various toys scattered around her had provided her no distraction against the pain of seeing her father die over and over inside her head. There were times when you weren't able to cope appropriately with pain and just had to let time heal your wounds.

"...I'm really looking forward to going back home, Misato. This place here is familiar...but it's not home."

The sentence brought a smile to the Major's face. Ten feet in front of them, the same thing graced the lips of a certain redhead, even though she made sure nobody saw it.

Especially the two behind her.

-

"So, he's been released."

"Yes, professor."

Fuyutsuki turned at the word, noticing that it was the first time in many years that he'd been called that way.

"And?"

"Phase Metamorphosis seems to have succeeded. I'll have Dr. Akagi do him some tests this week to see the extent of the change."

"You mean...that you haven't carried them out yet?" asked a surprised Vice-Commander. His superior continued to gaze at Eva Unit 01 from his vantage point of view, the small command center set high behind the helm of the gigantic mechanic. Some combat equipment had been recently added to the purple warrior and the pair had wanted to see them for themselves. The changes were somewhat awesome with the fact that Unit 01's rear armor had been replaced with a new, reinforced one, complete with multiple hard-points, which allowed storage and fixation of multiple combat systems. Three equipment racks had been riveted to the behemoth's back, which could either accept two rifles or three progressive spears, as well as a still-under development flight system. The whole program was meant for the two Units, but Unit 01 was its sole test-bed.

"No."

"Why though? That's so unlike you!"

"Because there was nothing to worry about him. I knew the cells would carry out the task they were given."

Fuyutsuki raised an unsure eyebrow.

"And...did they?"

"We'll find out soon."

"But..." Gendo Ikari cut him off with a wave of his hand.

"By the way...I didn't want to attract suspicion on the Third. We've already taken great risks in taking him in one of our top-secret operation rooms and using not commercialized drugs and such medicines. Major Katsuragi already knows about the vessels and that our capabilities offered by our sciences exceeds by far that of the one she had grown to know. She will get suspicious if the Third is to be confined in Terminal Dogma, under our care and without visitors."

"...I see." It was obvious to the world around him that he didn't agree with his friend's and colleague's behavior.

"As soon as we get the results, we'll initiate Phase Three."

Fuyutsuki inhaled sharply.

"You mean..."

"Yes. Phase Possession."

-

"Well, welcome back home, Shinji," said an over-cheerful Misato Katsuragi, as she held the door open for Shinji.

That sentence brought him memories from his first arrival at Misato's apartment and the feeling of embarrassment it had given him.

"Well...I'm back home..." he muttered.

He removed his shoes, let them at the entrance, whilst Asuka continued to berate him on his laziness, urging him to speed up. He got up to his feet, took back his crutches and walked to the living room, towards the couch where he would...

"Oh...you've lowered the shades..." he noticed as he entered in a pitch-black room, with only a few rays filtering from the hidden windows. He squinted, trying to get his bearings and moved towards the wall, extending his hand to flip the lights on...

...But someone beat him to it.

The ceiling's lighting suddenly came alive, bathing the entire room in a glaring light, providing the startled Third Child with a surprising sight...

"WELCOME BACK!"

All of his friends, Kensuke, Rei, Touji, Hikari, the three bridge bunnies, even Ritsuko were there, holding champagne-filled glasses...all welcoming him back. The room was filled with little colorful banners and confetti, food and drinks; all set around for what was undoubtedly a surprise party. The two 'stooges' were wearing conic hats, while the three technicians were -an disturbing sight for those who only saw them at NERV in uniform- wearing loose clothes in an attempt to lay off from the stress of duty and already trying to get drunk for fun. Even Ritsuko had come with casual clothes and could be seen genuinely smiling. Hikari, being herself, was half-cheering and half-restraining the two 'jocks' from tackling their friend down to the floor. The shock wearing off, Shinji couldn't but feel a smile spread across his lips and traces of tears brimming at the corners of his eyes. All those he cared for were there, something he had never dreamed of, even in his most desperate moments. Waves of long-lost happiness and of relief washed through him, disposing of the little depression that was worming its way through his worn-out mind. A sense of belonging rose inside him, shoving away all of the ghosts of the past...like a glimmer of hope in the dark horizon of future. And, as he finally found himself in the arms of his friends who hugged him in a heartfelt greeting and silent wish for prompt recovery, a thought found its way to the deepest levels of his heart.

"I'm really home."

If only a redhead hadn't interrupted his thoughts, everything would've been okay.

"Well? What're waiting for? Go in, you lazy butt!"

Well, he thought with a small smile, some things changed but others didn't.

-

_Pilot Ikari has been released_, Rei thought. _Should I feel happy for him? It is said that people have this feeling when their welfare is ensured. Should I, then? What is it, 'to be happy'? I don't understand that concept. I have never known it so how can I recognize it?_

She nearly gasped as she remembered the disembodied voice -probably a figment of her own imagination- with whom she had held a conversation four weeks ago.

_...For you, it will be the hardest task you'll be assigned...or at least that you'll assign to yourself. For you know nothing about it. You won't be able to recognize feelings like love, hate, passion, sadness...they will disturb you to no end and give birth to countless questions to which you'll find no suitable or satisfying answer. You can still try, but you won't be able to do it alone. You were 'raised' to obey, not to have free will. Those who surround you know about feelings but you don't. They can help you, but to a certain extent only. And in the end, you'll have to suffer in a certain way, in order to find what you are longing for. Feelings are in-born, not learnt. You cannot teach an individual to feel. The only thing he would be able to do, otherwise, is to mimic what he thinks to feel. It would then be a lie._

The memory brought shivers to run down her spine, providing her with a sensation of insecurity and of helplessness. If it was true, how could she succeed? It would be close to impossible...

Then...

_What makes a man a man?_

_Is it those feelings?_

_Is it his intelligence?_

_Is it his choices? His decisions?_

_So many questions, but so few answers..._

She mentally shook her head and looked up, finding herself on the bank of the Geofront's shimmering lake, walking towards a place that only the darkest part of her mind knows. She couldn't remember what had driven her here instead of heading towards Major Katsuragi's apartment and take part in the private celebration of Shinji's return. She did not like such agitation; neither did she comprehend the meaning of 'having fun'. She had once attended, by pure curiosity, one of the culture festivals in the city and had watched dancers and singers from afar, trying to understand their gestures and what made them so special. From a scientific view, there was nothing special to see...only people gesticulating and shouting...their voices mingling in a discordant symphony that held no aesthetic, even to an ignoramus' ears. There was also the fact that she didn't like crowded areas, preferring calm, lonely places where she could muse to herself and observe the world without interacting with it.

_Pilot Ikari is better...yet why don't I feel at least...relieved?_

_It's as if something's still wrong behind all these appearances._

_The sky's so blue_, she thought as she gazed at the ceiling, where the lower parts of dozens of buildings could be seen protruding from the smooth surface of the armored dome. _So...clear. Yet I do not find comfort in it._

_Coldness._

_Ignorance._

_Fear._

_Dread._

_That's what I feel right now._

_What I feel._

She closed her eyes as she repeated those words over and over, finding but a small feeling of relief in them.

_At least I feel something. It's enough for me right now, even though they're said not to be good for us._

-

"So...Shinji! Feeling alright, now?"

"Yes...Touji...m..." he gasped as his friend tightened his arm around his neck, nearly choking him in an overenthusiastic bear hug.

"What?" a widely grinning half-shouted, while holding a Breezer bottle.

"Errr..." Misato said, looking at the wincing face of the Third Child, "...I think he's got trouble breathing, Touji. You should let go of him before he dies on us." The 'Chief Stooge' looked at his friend then released him while scratching the back of his head with his prosthetic hand. "Ah...sorry, mate...got carried on..."

"It's okay...forget it..." coughed a recovering Shinji. He blinked twice then looked around him. He couldn't understand why the neighbors weren't already at the door shouting and complaining about the racket they were all making. Kensuke was playing on the PlayStation 4 against a challenge-loving Asuka - and was getting beaten for the fourth time in a row, Hikari was holding Pen-Pen in her arms trying to stop Asuka from bludgeoning her classmate to death should he make a 'disgraceful' comment about his repeated defeats, Ritsuko was trying to beat Misato at her 'the-one-who-gets-drunk-first-wins' game, along with a slowly dozing Makoto, whilst Maya and Shigeru were singing together Donna Summer's _I Will Survive_ at the karaoke system and dancing what looked like French Cancan with a tad of rumba.

A sweat-drop developed on his head as he took in the sight of his surroundings, wondering if he was the only sane one left. A playful slap to the back of his head snapped him from the shadowy realm of his thoughts. His head turned towards the offender...which turned out to be -unsurprisingly- Touji Suzuhara, ex-Fourth Child.

"Hey! Stop that! My back's still hurt, you know that?" he said in a indignant voice as he tried to get over the tingles of pain that coursed through his tired nerves.

"...O...okay! I won't do it again!" he pleaded with raised hands as he saw the Class Representative's eyes darting towards him, narrowing suspiciously. The young macho and mano-a-mano basketball player soon began to fear for his earlobes' safety as he remembered how she used to pinch hard disobeying or badly behaving students at that part of the human anatomy. "I thought I had done it not too hard! I swear!"

"...Well, it did feel like you whacked me with a stick..." he muttered as he massaged his shoulders, trying to lessen the pain. What he wasn't aware of was the fact that over the last four weeks, his sense of touch had greatly improved, up to the point that he could detect the small, microscopic cracks in the smooth surface of a spotless wall, without even seeing it. But the change had been slow and progressive and he had not sensed anything. The problem that advantage implied was the fact that, like all other feelings, pain was also multiplied to a higher level.

"Sorry, sorry! Don't beat me up!"

"Great! Just what we needed!" chided a snarling Asuka. "Two Shinji's for the price of one, but with increased dumbness and perversion!"

"Hey, I didn't ask you for your opinion, Demon!" the brown-haired boy replied, while curling his hands into fists. Kensuke, of course, was recording everything while muttering under his breath a 'we hardly knew you, Touji; we'll surely miss you'.

"Ah...yes...is it too much for your brain to process and understand, pea-brain?"

"Like I'd ever need to; you're not worth it!"

"WHAT?" she screeched, making Shinji cringe. _I didn't know Asuka could scream so loud! I must REALLY be tired_, he thought, as he watched the pair starting a shouting match while Shigeru and Maya tripped in their improvised dance and fell in a heap onto the floor. Laughter rose as the two tried to get up and disentangle their trapped limbs, blushing madly at the mess they had caused.

"Oooh...my head" Shinji whined while holding a hand pressed against his temple.

From the table, while downing cans of beer, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi was watching the Third Child cringe. Part of it, she knew, was because of his tiredness. The other...

She shook her head while grabbing another can.

Two beings in the same room then shared the same thought, in a rare moment of mutual understanding.

_It's going to be a long night..._

-

Throughout billions of years, Earth had changed in shape; its seas and continents switching places and trading lost or won areas as tectonic laws decided their fate. Plates rubbed against each other or met head-first in an impossibly low but highly powerful collision that gave birth either to chasms or high mountains like the Everest, moved away from each other, leaving but bare magma to solidify to the contact of saltwater and create a sort of 'gap cap'...everything on earth evolved, some at a high rate but others at a very, very low speed. And such was the case of geography and geology.

Under the terrestrial crust, under thousands of layers of rocks of different density, moved forces greater than anyone would think of. White-hot matter turned to an ever boiling liquid flowed in lethal currents, moved around by the planet's rotation and the laws of thermodynamics. The rules that sea of fire abides by were unknown to man and existed only in suppositions and probabilities to a human mind. No one had ever been able to uncover the secrets of that forbidden place which only meant death and destruction and once was the supposed abode of terrible demons that would rise from the depths of Earth to bring dismay and lay ruin to the surface's inhabitants.

From time to time, a 'spurt' of heat would rose from these currents, towards the crust in an irresistible movement, that would liquefy the thin membrane and burst it open, sending thousands of tons of incandescent magma towards the skies in a desperate attempt to get rid of that heat. Those points would take the form of a cone and would later symbolize -at least to those who lived nearby- one of the oldest signs of God's fury against the sins of Man. Volcanoes.

The image one usually had of them was that of a sort of mountain belching fire from its riven summit, spitting enormous dark clouds and lethal fumes like a sinister panache and raining down rocks and molten lava towards the surroundings, killing everything in their path. But what no one did suspect until the last century was that there also existed _underwater_ volcanoes, that would suddenly make the water boil and rise up in powerful geysers that would destroy nearby ships or make them capsize should they find themselves near the incoming wave that usually accompanied such eruptions.

Near the Japan's Trench was a curious geological phenomenon called Mount Kashima - a volcano of which the western side had collapsed, because of two tectonic plates meeting head-on (the Pacific p. and the Japanese p.), the collision making one of the two (the Pacific p.) slide under the other and plunge towards the Earth's depths only to disappear, liquefied by the increasing temperature. The shockwaves had shaken up Mount Kashima, and as the geological prominence neared the fault, its western face, eroded by multiple underwater earthquakes, had collapsed, leaving in its place but a cleft asunder mountain, its once proud figure now no more featuring a slope but a cliff that was more than 1,500 meters long at its base.

And apart from the billions of microscopic or greater-sized forms of life that swam all around in their endless dance under the surface, nothing had troubled the area for a few hundreds years. At least for the time being. Crabs, medusas, arachnids of all sorts, fishes and even mammals, hundreds of thousands if not millions of ever-varying species were to be found in that part of the world...so numerous that Mankind would never have the time to record them all, even if given a dozen lifetimes. All were obeying, mindlessly, to the simple laws of Nature: eat or be eaten, eat or die of hunger, and so on, fulfilling each of the most primal tasks and needs they had been given, all oblivious to the horrors that plagued the outer world.

But suddenly a shockwave rippled through the depths, sending panic to the minds of this abyss' inhabitants, causing them to flee away in an horrendous cacophony that doubled in intensity as they became aware of what was coming. Waves of energy continued to course through the trench, heralding the arrival of a new being, one that outsized them all and that no one dared to challenge or even pick on, even the smallest parasites like the remoras. A dark shape of tremendous proportions loomed above the 'ground', sending tons of sediments to lift up and twirl in gigantic whirlwinds as the swirls caused by the gigantic displacement of water tore them away. As it neared Mount Kashima, a look of recognition seemed to dawn on the intruder's countenance as it stopped, as if to consider the surroundings. But soon, it resumed its pace, speeding forward without even moving a single limb, motioned by energies beyond human comprehension and sending great amounts of turbulences to trouble the bottom of the ocean.

A gigantic arm collided with the cliff, raking against its cold, sharp surface, sending chips of stone and other rocks to tumble down in a slow but determined fall. The being paid no heed to that event and went on, undisturbed, towards its goal.

The Angel of Whirlwinds, Za'amiel, was bound for Tokyo-3.

-

The wail of a guitar woke Shinji up from the couch, where he had fallen asleep. From what it sounded like, the radio was still on but the TV. was off and nobody was singing anymore. There was only silence and...? Opening his eyelids to get a better grasp of his surroundings, he looked around him and saw that nearly everybody had fallen into the lulling arms of sleep, following him in his quest of rest due to exhaustion. Kensuke was lying next to a snoring Touji, a string of drool hanging from his open mouth...Hikari was peacefully sleeping on a seat, still holding the since-long passed out Pen-Pen whilst Asuka was sitting on the ground, her back to the couch, softly rocking from one side to the other. He remembered the earlier parts of the evening, as some things got wilder, with Misato nearly offering the two 'stooges' cans of high alcohol degree-beer (Ritsuko had to calm _her_ down and Hikari hold _them_ back), Asuka nearly disemboweling Touji for having called her 'tomboy', and Kensuke dragging him to the karaoke system to get him sing Abba's _Super Trooper_. Fortunately their Class Representative managed to get in their way and tell the bespectacled boy to leave Shinji alone because of his state, but not before giving him a piece of her mind, along with a _physical_ demonstration of her anger. Kensuke's ears were still burning red.

The adults, who had much more experience than them in staying late during parties, were all in the kitchen, speaking in hushed tones. From time to time a giggle or a muffled laugh could be heard. The lights were out but Shinji could still see the prone or sitting forms of his friends. It didn't come to his mind to ask himself why his eyes were so sharp at night when he was still so weak...the fact is, even though he had taken a small amount of respite during his sleep and regained some strength, he was still too tired to take note of some things.

Empty bottles littered the entire place, as well as confetti, wrappings of all sorts and dirty plastic plates. The karaoke system had been shut off but there were a lot of CDs scattered on the ground as well as magazines.

_And who's going to clean this mess up tomorrow morning? Yeah, you're right, it's your average next-door housebroken wimp! Jackpot!_

He sighed as he ran a hand over his face. The next day...well, _today,_ since it was three in the morning, was going to be a long, tiresome one.

Yeah, some things didn't change.

But they were for the best right now.

And he couldn't have been more wrong in his judgment.

-

"Ah...to be young..." sighed a nearly dozing off Maya.

"Yeah...memories..." chided a smirking Makoto Hyuga, sending her a playful wink but earning him a soft punch to his arm for his comment on women's age.

"...They're really full of energy, aren't they?" observed a thoughtful Ritsuko. "Even Shinji surprised me by still staying awake at two twelve. And in his state, to say the less!"

"Yeah...but he's our miracle worker, remember?" said jokingly a nearly drunk Shigeru Aoba, as he pointed a finger towards the scientist. Misato, who already was suffering from a hangover but still dared to drink beer - even at three in the morning - frowned at that. Shinji had always done what he'd been told to do but never did it for his own good. The feats he'd pulled off in those unmerciful and terrifying battles had nearly cost him his life and for not much in return. Misato was scared to death that her charge would not survive one of these encounters...much less live to see the days where his pain would be rewarded by happiness and well-deserved thanks. What made her cringe inwardly was the fact that, whatever would happen, he'd still have to fight, because nobody else was able to do so. He had not run away from his responsibilities for the last few months, as if finally realizing that it would get him nowhere and wouldn't in any way solve his problems.

"Yeah...if you say so."

The longhaired technician frowned then saw his error. Mentioning Shinji like that was never easy for the Major, especially when it came to the Evas. This last semester had been pure hell for the Ikari/Katsuragi/Soryu household and the three of them still kept unhealed wounds from that terrible times. In fact, they were still coping with, trying to definitively put an end to it, to finish that chapter and start a new one.

"Well, what I meant to say is that that boy's got resources. He's got the guts to do something. He can achieve things. He's got enough force to do so..."

"...But he's too afraid to do so" completed the Major.

"Do you think he needs to see a psychiatrist to strengthen himself?" asked Maya Ibuki.

"...Mmmh. That sounds like a good idea, but I wonder if it's the most appropriate thing to do."

"Oh?" said Misato, not quite grasping her logic.

"For some people, it helps talking with another and discussing their problems. But for others, it doesn't. It depends on their psyches, on the way they react to their own world. You cannot say 'ah, today, I won't be afraid anymore of spiders' or such. It takes a lot of time to do so, along with considerable efforts to get over their own inner demons, Misato. Some would recommend enlisting in the JSSDF to help toughen up and fight your fears but that would just send him in one of his trademark depressions."

"It's out of question, Ritsuko. Even sending him in a martial arts dojo would be useless. He'd apologize every time to his opponent and give soft hits so that he wouldn't wound him or just do harm."

The image brought chuckles to some of them, whilst two women sighed.

"I just think..." said Makoto.

"Yes?"

"...that all he needs is friendship." He turned back towards the dark living room, where one could make out the sleeping forms of the children. "Seriously, I cannot recall seeing him so happy, apart from this afternoon. Can you?"

The others shook her head.

"To be frank, I've never seen him laughing. Not once. That is, until this afternoon."

"Yeah..."

"...Well, he does need a break from all that's happening nowadays..." said Ritsuko as she gulped some water to make the taste of beer pass.

"True...he's been hurt too much..." said a saddened Maya, as she recalled all the dramas Shinji had to pull through this last six months.

"...'Too much' is the word, Maya. Just 'too much'. The worse is that he cannot walk away from his duties. Everybody needs him otherwise..." Misato trailed off as memories of the First Impact, which she had witnessed first-hand, rose from the depths of her memories and came back to life in her mind.

"...Indeed. The curse of the Evas."

Misato and Ritsuko cringed at that, both remembering the aspects of their life that had considerably been influenced by the whirlwind of pain, suffering and death that was Second Impact, NERV, the Angels and the Evangelions.

"...By the way, Misato, he'll have to come at least everyday at NERV next week, to do some tests."

"WHAT?" nearly screamed a surprised purple-haired Major, before the doctor and the 'bridge bunnies' shot their fingers to their lips in a token of silence.

"He won't do synch tests...not yet. He's still not ready for that and I need him to be more mentally stabilized before making him enter an entry-plug."

"But then, what..."

"We'll do medial check-ups and studies on his body. We haven't had the leisure or the time to do so ever since the fourteenth. You talked about 'changes' in his body four weeks ago, right?"

The Major nodded, then frowned.

"In fact, I'd like to see how his body has evolved since the accident. His vitals should be a little up now but I still need to see it for myself. There's also the fact that I've had to inject him new types of vaccines and I want to see how well they performed."

"Is that necessary?" asked a wearied Misato. "Hasn't he gone enough to the hospital or the infirmary?"

"Yes. It would help us understand the way his body works, Misato. It could save his life later on."

_That should do it_, she thought as she saw a small glimmer of hope spark in her eyes heavily laden with dread and sorrow.

"Okay...but YOU tell him. I've seen enough of his tired face these past few days and I couldn't but feel guilty at announcing it to him."

"I understand, Misato. But it's just tests, okay...just tests. We'll take samples of his blood, pass him through an X-ray transmitter...the whole nine yards. Nothing to worry about. It's not like we'll cut him open and start switching his organs' places, you know? We aren't Doctor Crazyhead down there!"

"Doctor Crazyhead?" asked Shigeru.

"That's what some geeks called her at university because she was always first in biology classes" informed Misato. "...Well, well...you tell him, not me. Just do it. Period."

She buried her head in her arms and sighed deeply.

"Really, Misato, you shouldn't be so worried about it...it's no big stuff, you know...Misato? Eh, Misato?" She shook her friend's arm then stopped, with a wry look on her face.

"What's wrong?" asked a puzzled Makoto.

"She's fallen asleep" answered Dr. Ritsuko Akagi. The others nearly face-faulted.

Then her loud, deep snoring made itself known to the other NERV employees, nearly driving them away from the room.

It was worse than a chainsaw working at full force.

-

The _Lucky Dragon_ was a small fishing ship that belonged to an old private company, held by a small family, which also happened to be the _Dragon_'s crew. Few were those who, at the small port of Konewara Bay - a small village that had become a port after the Second Impact , who could afford a boat of their own without having to work for a company that could help them with their expenses and provide them with the proper equipment. The country had nearly been on the verge of economic collapse after that fateful year - the local harvests -at least those who still had farmers to take care of them- had given but few amounts of food, communications had severed with the rest of the work, shares' value had dramatically fallen, sending entire companies and countless shareholders into bankruptcy, as factories stopped working, being deserted by their panicked workers. Production had fallen to the point of nonexistence. Exportation and Importation became word without meaning.

And money a lone memory and reminder of better times, now lost in the turbulent stream of Fate.

The captain was looking at the Milky Way, which couldn't be seen from the cities, the local pollution as well as the heat blocking off or reflection the light from the stars. But here, in a place where only Nature reigned, one could gaze at them for hours, without problem. They were much more numerous than seen inland and much more clearer to the human eye, the man reflected. He believed that in one way or another, one could read his destiny in the course of those white, glowing pinpricks, their patterns being a sort of celestial languages that but a few could understand. He always read his horoscope each morning and frequently went to the local Shinto temple to try to either appease or please the gods or simply try to attract good luck.

He looked back at the bridge, where his son could be seen manning the helm, his eyes scanning the surroundings in search for fast moving collision lights. A brief sense of pride entered him as he took a glance at his relative, knowing that one day, he would be at _his_ place and look back to what would be, one day maybe, his grandson. He looked back and sighed. That wouldn't occur before a long time. You first had to survive and times weren't good even to those who worked hard. The price of fish had fallen by 10, a good thing for the people but bad news for the fishers, who had to live with meager paychecks.

The _Lucky Dragon_ was heading back to the recently-formed Konewara Bay, once a very little valley in southern Japan but now an artificial haven for fishing ships, with two tongues of rock protruding from the country and curving inwards like enveloping arms, providing the small fishing community with natural protection against typhoons, shielding the boats from the brunt of the wind's assaults - giving them much less chances to sink, capsize or break their hull against the piers. In the ships' cargo hold were tons of fish that were currently being sorted by species, size and state by the crew, in order to gain time and have the goods ready for shipment for their arrival, in a week. Now, if they could...

The boat's prow suddenly met a sudden obstacle, sending it to a full stop and causing sailors and all unattached object inside the ship to fall forward because of their still-important kinetic energy. The hull groaned then gave way, with meters of metal rending apart in an horrendous screech, letting the water enter in the entrails of the _Lucky Dragon_. Men suddenly found themselves in flooded compartments and corridors, as the ship kept on going forward, pushed by his own propellers. The bow cracked and deformed, with part of the deck ripping apart, bending tons of stamped and riveted metal to bend at unnatural angles. The lights suddenly gave out, as water entered in contact with some electrical wirings, short-circuiting them and sending the whole vessel in utter darkness.

The captain had found himself propelled towards the railing and had broken a couple of ribs, but that wasn't what horrified him the most. It was the sight of his ship breaking apart against an invisible thing that denied them further passage. _What's that? A reef? A half-floating shipwreck? _He tried to move towards the stairs next to him but a sudden motion in front of him stopped his own movement. Sailors that had found their way towards the deck also froze in place.

A gigantic geyser was slowly rising from the ocean, drenching the scared men with tons of pulverized water, nearly sending a couple of them off board. Mist started to cloud their vision, as waves started to crash all around them, as if a tsunami had suddenly taken place in front of them. But that was impossible. Tidal waves only took their massive form near the beaches, where the sea's bottom suddenly rose up, deforming the lowest part of the energy wave and causing the top to crash forward. A whale? Impossible. Not here. Not now.

Then, an unearthly sound made itself known to the world, amongst the cacophony of moving and beating metal plates and water churning...that of voices raising to an extremely high pitch, a chorus of desperation, heralding death, destruction, pain and suffering. As the clouds started to clear away, chased by a sudden wind, the captain found itself gazing at a nightmare he'd never thought possible.

It was so great that he had to crane his neck upwards to see its top...and still, he couldn't distinguish the features of...of the THING but the only idea he had of its size was the amount of stars hidden by its bulk. _Dear God, it's more than a hundred meters tall...more than that._..it was there, suspended in midair, defying all laws of gravity, as if reaching for the skies...covered in darkness but glittering with seawater. A low growl could now be heard, increasing in intensity. _It's_, thought a cook, _it's like a beast growling at its prey._

A couple of seconds passed without anything occurring in between, then...

The form pitched forward, slowly falling towards the still ship.

The captain opened his mouth to scream but no words came out of his constricted throat. The pain and surprise had already stolen it away.

And, as the waves rose once again around the _Lucky Dragon_, mere seconds before that incredible mass entered in contact with the boat and completely crushed it under its impossible weight - sending it straight to the bottom of one of the Pacific Ocean's countless abysses, the Japanese sailor formed his last thought.

The stars didn't bring him luck tonight.

Neither did his ship's name.

-

"I couldn't do it, sir. Terminal Dogma is completely sealed off. Even the aeration shafts have suffered modifications. There's no way I can get down there" said a figure hidden in the dark.

"Is that so? What about hacking into their supercomputer's main database or their video surveillance network?"

That suggestion brought a nod of denegation from the informant.

"Close to impossible. There are only a few I/O ports that have direct access to the MAGI, and all of them are situated near what's called the 'column'."

"The 'column'?"

"Yeah. It's basically a 'column', a sort of cylindrical zone that spreads under and above the MAGI system and that houses a lot of wirings, most of them being highly conductive lanthanum oxide-copper wires or fiber optics. All of which are either heading down or up towards the MELCHIOR subsystem, the one with the memory blocks. The two others, BALTHAZAR and CASPER, are just processing and analysis units. If you're inside that 'column', you'll have I/O ports with direct access to MELCHIOR...well, I mean, it depends on your status in NERV; there are a lot of restrictions and rare are those who can make it to the Beta confidentiality level. If you're outside...you'll only have access to minor supercomputer with locally relevant data. I mean, if the port is near the Eva cages, then you'll have access to Eva information, but nothing else. If you belong to the power plants, you'll have..."

"Okay, okay, I get the idea. So you have to get inside that column to...is it a true column?"

"No, it's just an area. There's no actual, solid cylinder or something like that. It's just a high-security zone, one that's heavily patrolled."

"Damn. That means you'll not be able to find what we're searching for."

"What about the NERV MAGI's connection to the other MAGIs around the world? You could log in from there and waltz up through their files!" he suggested.

"A good idea, but not one possible at the moment...and even so, it would be rather hard since each MAGI staff is watching the other and looking for intrusions and unauthorized delving."

"...That means that we're dead in the water, right?"

"Yeah. SEELE's not going to be happy. And..."

"And?"

"You're no more useful to me" he quietly stated before getting a SIG-Sauer P245 automatic pistol from his coat and firing twice at the informant's face, sending chips of bone and gray matter to repaint the wall behind him.

The intelligence agent then went on with his grisly task, proceeding to remove the body's jaws, eyeballs and hands in order to prevent post-mortem identification. Without any blueprints like fingerprints, teeth (whose cast model was surely recorded somewhere in NERV's security database) and the irises (every individual on this planet having unique ones, even twins brothers or sisters), the police's forensics and crime scene teams would then have a hard time finding the poor guy's name, much less his antecedents. He also made sure to strip him from his clothes, which he would dump in a remote, unfrequented lake six miles away from the city.

Ten minutes after, the maimed body was being disposed of in the sewer system of the city, not to be found back before an entire week.

And another NERV agent yet disappeared from the face of Earth.

-

"They're getting restless."

"It seems so."

"Such a behavior is strange, from ones who, weeks prior, were as calm as still waters."

"Something must have occurred in between."

"Must we consider it as a good sign, then?" asked Fuyutsuki as he looked at the Tree of Sefiroth.

"As long as it unsettles the old men we should consider it a blessing. In fact, we could turn it to our own advantage" stated the frozen figure of Gendo Ikari, once again resuming his familiar posture - bent forward and leaning on his elbows, both hands joined together and forming a bridge in front of his nose, hiding the lower part of his face.

"But if that leads them to make...rash...maneuvers?"

"Then it would tilt the balance of fate in our favor. Fear often leads to stupidity, as you know it."

_Oh yes, Ikari. You're one to talk, do you know that?_

"Indeed. But they seem to have become more agitated these past few days. As if they're waiting for something to happen."

"Do you think so? Then we must get back to our previous state of readiness, Fuyutsuki. As well as speed up Phase Three."

"But why?"

"Because..." Gendo said whilst glancing up at the Kabbalah. "...That probably means that an Angel is coming."

-

"Nrrrgh...damn it...what's this for a bed?" muttered a drowsy Asuka as she woke up, her back pressed against the side of the couch. She turned her head by a fraction, noticing that the surface against which she was resting retained nothing from her bed's softness. It was just the opposite and was slowly killing her. She then took note of the fact that she was in a sitting position, a rather curious way to fall asleep. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes then got to her knees, trying to get her bearings in the dark. She grumbled, then spotted two prone forms sprawled on the floor, Touji and Kensuke. An evil smile played on her lips as she imagined playing a trick or two on them, taking advantage of their unconscious state but she was too tired to come up with something funny so she let, with a tinge of regret, the idea fall into oblivion.

She then saw Hikari with Pen-Pen is her arms, her chest slightly rising from her soft breathing. _If she had had a baby in her arms instead of a warm-water penguin, I would have called this sight the Sleeping Madonna_, she thought.

Then her eyes fell on the Third Child.

Her eyes, surprisingly, lingered longer on him, as if drawn to him by hidden magnets whose presence no one could understand, even her. His face, in his sleep, seemed so peaceful...so detached. It was as if nothing could hurt him right now, she mused as her gaze traveled along the calm features of Shinji Ikari, trying to keep that image etched into her memory. It seemed so different from the real-life Shinji. He always bore that air of sadness and reluctance, of sorrow that would never end...pure shyness...but now...it looked like all of these had left him, giving him a short time of respite.

_There's another facet of him that I didn't know_, she reflected.

Then, on an impulse, she got to a nearby chest of drawers and took out a piece of cloth. She unfolded it and spread it on the Third Child's knees, trying to provide him with a source of heat to help him pass this cold night. She took care not to wake him up, with an unnatural sense of care and moved his crutches away to a better position so that the wouldn't fall down and clatter. She then took a step or two back and looked at the figure...who seemed, eerily...to smile.

Sensing a wave of calm satisfaction spreading through her, she started to head for her room when she hesitated then came back at her earlier position. She bent forward, her face inching toward the boy's...their lips only a dozen centimeters apart, their breathing softly and silently mingling in an intimate and invisible dance. She was about to close that remaining distance when a soft sound made by the sleeping pilot made her recoil in surprise and step back. She frowned then, with a slightly disappointed face, resumed her walk towards her room...

...But not before uttering some well-chosen, heartfelt words:

"Welcome home, idiot. I really missed you."

* * *

_**To be continued...**_

* * *

**A/N:**

**01°)** Mount Kashima truly exists and is actually considered as one of the most spectacular geological phenomena caused by a process called 'subduction' - two plates crashing against each other, in the end causing one of the two (mostly the slowest one) to slide under the other and head downwards...diving towards a hotter magma level, which melts that plunging portion of the terrestrial crust. The molten rock then rises up and turns back to solid state once it reaches the bottom of the other plate or simply goes through it, creating new volcanoes (heat spurts). It should be noted that the movements of these two plates and the friction that results from it cause most of Japan's earthquakes.

**02°)** Za'amiel or Zaamiel is, according to the third book of Enoch, the Angel which controls all storms and winds on Earth, save for the hurricanes, which are wielded by his brethren Za'apiel. Both of them are considered according to the Jewish lore as angelic princes who rule over the elements of the world.

**03°)** JSSDF (Japanese Strategic Self-Defense Force): successor of the pre-Second Impact Japanese Self-Defense Force (JSDF). It's basically a joint forces command nexus, which orders around the Navy, the Air Force and the Army but has more importance than before due to the fact that it has gained, over the years and ever since Second Impact (2000), nuclear and non-nuclear (N²) power. Under the direct command of the Minister of Defense, three five-star generals, which represent the three different arms (sea, air and ground) and two civilians officers, the Commanders of the Secret Service and the Intelligence Department. Under them, in the JSSDF decision tree / hierarchy, are a dozen different offices like the Research Development's or the National Resources Management', most of which appeared somewhere circa 2011, when radical reforms were made throughout the whole country through many different aspects (societal, military, governmental, economic, energetic, resources) in a desperate attempt to solve the 'Second Impact crisis' that plagued the nation's infrastructure.

**04°)** The _Lucky Dragon _is also the name of a small Japanese boat, whose crew had been contaminated by the radioactive fallout of a nuclear test carried out somewhere in the Bikini Islands, in February 1954. Even though the _Lucky Dragon_ -also a fishing boat- had been sailing two hundred kilometers away from the center of the detonation point, the winds had carried microscopic pieces of radioactive dust away towards its deck. The crew either inhaled some of them or just entered in contact with them...thus getting contaminated. The radiation doses encountered were important enough to kill if not get someone ill.


	7. Chapter 07: Gazing At The Stars Looking...

**Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Beast Inside**

**Written by abi2301**

**Chapter 07**

**v.01: 10/27/2004**

**Official disclaimer:**

The Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series are the intellectual and material property of Gainax Studios, ADVision, Inc., Shonen Ace magazine, Hideaki Anno and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. All rights reserved. 'NGE: The Beast Inside' is a purely fictional series based upon the original NGE and written for entertainment purpose only. No money is made out of it.

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 07: Gazing At The Stars / Looking At The Future**

_One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man._

**Elbert HUBBARD, _Thousand and One Epigrams_ (1911) p. 151**

_Every body continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a right line, unless it is compelled to change that state by forces impressed upon it._

**Sir Isaac NEWTON, _Principia Mathematica_ (1687) _Laws of Motion 1_ (translated by Andrew Motte, 1729)**

_We all are born mad. Some remain so._

**Samuel BECKETT, _Waiting for Godot_ (1955) act 2**

* * *

"The _Prometheus _and _Orion_ satellites have recorded rather curious and yet unexplained small-scale deformations of the magnetic field during the last four weeks. No distinctive pattern had been made out yet. They were first attributed to local weather but the numbers sent by the American NOAA, from which we get our weather bulletins, do not concur with ours. In fact, we have a second anomaly here: strange meteorological phenomena that do not correspond to our weather predictions. In southern Africa it should have been sunny for at least a whole week but instead of that there's been torrential rainfalls that have already cost them dozens of lives. A typhoon is actually forming near Malaysia, in spite of the high-pressure area that's moving towards it. Logically it would have fed itself upon a low-pressure zone, but it's doing just the opposite of what it's supposed to do. Near the Kamchatka, there have been massive snowfalls, something that's incompatible with this monthly weather chart."

"I...see. Is there something else?"

"...Yes...and no. In fact we are confronted with more and more mysteries here. The American NASA and the European ESA have reported an increase in energy readings around the Jupiter planet but they don't have any explanation for it yet. They sent four years ago two new research probes, _Mjollnir_ and _Pegasus,_ but they're still on their way and won't arrive onsite before a few more years. In the meantime, they hope that they will serve as forward observation posts and eventually provide them with some useful data to understand what happened. There are even some people thinking about reactivating the old Hubble-2 telescope but they haven't done it. For the moment, no one has advanced a credible theory for such an occurrence. Some say that it may be large-scale distortions in space-time continuum but nobody believes them and neither do we. The thought is just too preposterous to be considered possible. Apart from that, our geographical survey team has been in turmoil for a couple of days now since we got this picture, from Arizona."

The man switched a button on his desk and an image popped out on a large holographic screen, seeming suspended in mid-air. Since the projection room was pitch black, luminosity and contrast were maximized and a lot of details could be made on the picture. It showed a very large, oval-shaped crater, which seemed to have been made by an asteroid that impacted at a rather low angle. The earth was rent on several kilometers, as if the object that had caused this small-scale cataclysm had not stopped in its course and had kept on going forward.

"Hmmm. I see. Interesting," said the still figure of Gendo Ikari. The unnatural scene did, surprisingly, not affect him; in fact, it was as if he had been expecting something of that sort. He was taking it too calmly to be normal. But, the Real-time Development Section (RDS) agent amended, the Supreme Commander was a man very hard to surprise.

"We haven't had any asteroid rainfall alert this last few weeks. Even the three-kilometer long Terpsichora-566 asteroid seems to still be out in space, well beyond our planet's attraction zone and no other candidates for such a phenomenon have been retained. We're at a technical stalemate here. We've got no explanation for it."

"Do you?" asked a skeptical Fuyutsuki, who had been 'hiding' in the shadows behind Gendo's chair.

"...Well, at least if it's caused by something that has fallen from the skies..." he said, pointing to the ceiling. "...It does look like a super-deformed Manson Crater, which is Arizona, too, so we went for that explanation first...but...well, we have sent some people from our First U.S. Branch to take a closer look at the area and see if we could study it, for our archives...but some of their findings were rather unnerving."

"Explain yourself," said a wearied Vice Commander.

"...Well, according to them, the crater was not made by something that had impacted _into_ the ground but from something that had come _out_ of it."

Gendo's glasses flashed towards the NERV employee, who started to sweat nervously. Being alone with that individual could creep some people out of their skins.

"Really?"

"...Y...yes...that's...what they think, at least."

Another picture replaced the other. It was obviously taken from the inside of the crater. They could see walls of rock rising from the ground, as if shoved aside by something powerful hidden from the ground. Tons of rubble had invaded the area, along with jagged masses of rock and various-sized pebbles.

"We've never seen an asteroid doing something like that. The angle of impact would then have been extremely low, something quite impossible for a mass like that. Normally its trajectory would have been vertical. What's more unexplainable is the fact that the seismic activity surveillance stations near that area have reported only a very small earthquake, reading at two on the Richter scale. Too small to be an asteroid."

"But whatever caused this caused the earthquake, right?"

"Right. But it's not an asteroid. We're categorical on that. We haven't found it, even with an ultrasound pulse scan. It's not a geological collapse either. It's not a cave whose ceiling had fallen or something like that. Well, here on the picture you can see a lot of rubble and fallen rocks, but you only find them on the edges of the crater. It's as if something had pushed them aside instead of letting them fall normally all around the place. You don't find them in the center but only on the borders. And some of the rocks are too big to blame the whole 'accident' on an asteroid fall. They would normally have been pulverized and reduced to pebbles, but not like this" he pointed to a six-meter tall monolith. "It's true that the ground has cracked but not from something that came from the _outside_ but well from the _inside_. The edges are facing _outwards_, which give you the impression of facing an impact crater Note that the center of the depression is pretty smooth but there are some linear scrapings, here, here and there, as if something had dragged itself westward. But the width of these scrapings is something between two hundred and three hundred meters. It must've been something enormous."

"I see. Anything else?"

"No."

"Dismissed."

"Yes, sir."

The man happily exited, leaving the two to discuss that matter with hushed tones.

"It's certain, now. They're coming."

"How can there be more than eighteen? They're either dead or under our control!" asked a worried Fuyutsuki.

"I don't think that Paradise would only have eighteen Angels. The rebellion that the Morningstar staged against the Almighty was at a very large scale, Fuyutsuki. Thousands, no, millions of Angels followed him suit in his path of damnation, forsaking the Land of Light and falling into the flames of Gehenna. The_ Gebura_ scrolls clearly stated that the Cocytos, the Hell of the Rebelled Angels, was rank with fallen Messengers of the Light. I do not imagine such a proverbially large place being crowded with just twenty or twenty-five individuals, no matter their...size. It's rather on the scale of millions, if you follow your own logic."

"Millions? Don't tell me we'll have to fight millions of Angels!"

"Don't worry about it. Either we will vanquish the second batch or we will trigger the Blue Earth and Red Earth Ceremonies before the last one comes. We'll somehow manage to do it whatever it'll take us to see that day."

"But..." replied the gray-haired professor. "Will we have enough time? The last Angels inflicted us so much harm and losses! Didn't you forget about the Sixteenth and Tokyo-3? It was a pure miracle that the U.N. had decided to allocate us one hundred thirty-nine billion dollars to rebuild the city! Do you think they'll be as benevolent the next time?"

"No...and that's another reason for us to kill the Messengers of the High Realm."

Fuyutsuki fell silent at his colleague's logic.

"Phase Three will begin this afternoon."

"Wake up, blockhead! Time to make breakfast!"

For the being known as Shinji Ikari, silence had become a welcome refuge against the assaults of time and of life. Endless peace could be found there as long as you could maintain that soundless state. For many years, he had retreated, when something went wrong or he started to fall into depression, into that universe of calm and quiet, reveling in that place where nothing could find him. A few years later he had graduated to the lulling of his SDAT player, trying to find appeasement in music that he would rewind and replay endlessly, shoving away all of his worries and rebuilding his soul anew. During some nights, in utter silence - his friend of old - he could be seen gazing at the stars, trying to find something in that infinite realm of cold, boundless void. But as all do things on Earth, respite didn't last long.

His eyes snapped open at the sound of his redheaded roommate banging on his door, urging him to cook the household's morning meal. _Some things did change but some others didn't_, he reminded himself as he strained to pull himself into a sitting position, shifting his weight onto his tired arms. He didn't know that using crutches could do so much pain to his upper limbs and regretted not having practiced that way of walking at the hospital. He slung his legs over the bed and set his legs onto the cold floor, the effort already tearing off the last remnants of sleep from his clouded mind.

"I'm coming..."

He grabbed his two 'sticks', put them under his armpits and, with a determined jump forward, started for the kitchen. As the wooden frame slid aside to allow him to get out of his room, he was greeted with the sight of an already grumpy German redhead.

"Time you woke up, idiot! I've been here for I don't know how many minutes!"

"Sorry, sorry" Shinji apologized wearily.

"There you go again! Hmph, you're really still a wimp!" she commented while bopping his head then turned around in a huff, storming towards the kitchen. Shinji massaged his temple, sighed then followed her. He was about to get his hand on the doorframe when a loud holler made him freeze on his tracks. He had completely forgotten during these four weeks at that horribly silent hospital that his guardian used to let loose her 'morning cheer' after drinking her first beer. His eardrums suddenly longed for his old room down at the NERV trauma section.

"Misato, really, do you need to yell like that in the morning?"

"Good mornin', Shinji!" greeted with a wide smile the purple-haired Major while opening her second can. "...You should know by now that that's my way to show my approval of beer in the morning, right?"

The Third Child couldn't but heavily sigh and head towards the oven, grabbing a pan by the way with his right hand.

"You should really get transferred to the Tokyo-3's firefighting division, Misato," chided a miffed Asuka. "You could replace all their sirens with your 'morning whoop' as you put it. Everybody would be able to hear it from miles away, even the deaf and the dead!"

"Hey! Cut it out!" grumbled her guardian as she saw the two ganging up on her.

"By the way, you should really reduce your consumption of alcohol, Misato" said a frowning Shinji. "did you remember the last time you brought me at school with your car? You were so drunk I even wonder how we were able to get onsite in one piece!" Images of that dreadful experience rose to his mind, with a feeling of fear already seeping inside him as he recalled the ten-minute race towards his school. He'd thought he'd have a dozen heart attacks before the blue Renault Alpine would screech to a halt in its usual fashion.

Misato's eyes flashed and she flung her arms around her cans of beer, under the surprised of her two charges, startled by her vehemence. They could nearly see foam coming out of her gritted teeth, making them sweat-drop in amazement. "Don't...you...touch...my...beer...!" she growled, her tone reminding the two children of a rabid dog ready to jump on its prey.

"O...okay..." they uttered. Then, as soon as they agreed, their guardian sprung back to her previous position and flashed them an ever-wider smile, as if nothing had occurred. "EXCELLENT!"

_Some things did change but some others didn't._

"By the way, Shinji, Ritsuko wants to see you at NERV at one in the afternoon. She wants to talk to you."

"What for?" asked Shinji while breaking two eggs and dropping their contents inside the pan and starting the oven.

"She'll tell you. Don't ask me, it's probably just a physical or something like that." _DAMN! SHE was the one to tell him, not ME!_

"Ah..."

"...Ooh...is she worried her precious Shinji will fall apart if she doesn't take a look at him?" cooed a smirking Asuka, malice glinting in her eyes. The aforementioned pilot blushed, not liking one bit the tone she was taking and the hidden speech behind it.

"What?"

"Oh...stop it, Asuka, I know you're just as worried as her about Shinji, right?" smiled a teasing Misato.

"WHAT? WHY YOU..."

As the two started bickering, Shinji started to feel his face burn like red-hot magma. _They really know how to embarrass me_.

"Yeah, yeah..."

"I TOLD YOU I WASN'T WORRIED ABOUT HIM AND..."

"Then why did you ask me so much about him when he was at the hospital?"

"WHAT?"

_Asuka, worried about me? Nah, must be an illusion or something like that. A dream, yeah, that's it. I must be dreaming._ He looked at the crimson face of the German, so red that it would match her hair's color. He knew that his roommate, fellow pilot and schoolmate wouldn't give a single damn about him. She picked on him, insulted him, gave him 'physically' a piece of her mind and most of the time ignored him, preferring to hang around with Hikari and let him chatter with Touji and Kensuke. It had become worse after the Fourteenth, when he had, single-handedly and before her very eyes, ripped apart an Angel that had easily defeated her. That had wounded her to the core, driving her away from him and leading her to reject him. Hell had then broken loose when her synchronization ratio had abruptly fallen due to her periods and the pain it was giving her, both physically and mentally. That had proven to be a hole in her extremely thick armor, one that the Fifteenth had successfully exploited and used against her, forcing her to fall into despair. If it weren't for Shinji's actions afterwards, her own wrecked mind would have driven itself into madness. She had found some comfort in him but she still shoved him away, not wanting to depend on him or get too close to him. The Sixteenth had been nearly given her the last blow as it shot, unstopped, towards Eva Unit 00, leaving Asuka to battle mentally against her own unmoving mechanic. Her cries could be heard over the comm. channels as she begged Eva Unit 02 to detach itself from its launching pad, not eliciting a single response from the gigantic red-colored being. Rei had committed suicide seconds after, taking out with her the celestial being known as Armisael. Asuka had stayed alone in her room, sobbing and taking out her rage at anything she could lay her hands on, not wanting to accept that new defeat. Misato had then told Shinji to go in and try to calm her. He had partially succeeded; his bruises took an entire week to heal afterwards.

Her opinion of him had slowly changed. She had somewhat matured, becoming a tad more social and accepting each other's differences and weaknesses. Often sorrow led to humility and humility to comprehension. And finally, acceptance.

He recalled a time where life had been better, as if everything had gone back to that 'golden age', somewhere between the Seventh and the Thirteenth, where hints of friendliness could be seen between the piloting trio. It was just after Bardiel's attack on Eva Unit 03 that everything had started to fall apart and trigger for each Children their own personal nightmare. But had Asuka come to actually care for him? He wasn't so sure about that. It would take years for her to arrive at that state of acceptance and understanding. She would have to learn about his every secret and hidden pain to know exactly why he behaved so. And Shinji wasn't ready for that as she was. No one could build such a bond when their life and past were so screwed and filled with suffering. He knew that it would be more difficult for the German girl, as she was more volatile than him and more protective of herself. She would have to lower all of her defenses, something she wasn't ready to do right now. And even so, they wouldn't have the leisure to initiate such a level of familiarity and...intimacy? No. Asuka would want somebody better than him, not a wimp that would apologize on and on until his voice finally gave up, and then walk away from his problems. The German fireball would rather chose an individual who would stand up to her and put up with her fiery attitude. Shinji had already too much trouble putting out her inner fire and quenching her anger at him or every nuisance that plagued their lives.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'GET INTIMATE'? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND?"

Shinji stood frozen, his face going through every color existing in this realm of existence, from red to blue and nearly black as the comments flew between the two women, all about him. And the images they brought to his mind nearly made him die of shame as he knew what would happen if they were bound to realize. Asuka would bludgeon him to death andleave his body in one of the city's dumpsites.

As the level of sound in the small apartment rose to a high pitch, he soon became aware of a curious smell that turned out to be rather displeasing to his nose. His eyes wide open in disbelief, he slowly turned around, craning him neck to find the source of that unpleasantness.

He couldn't believe what he saw.

For the first time in years, he'd let a meal burn.

His roommates weren't going to be happy.

"Is everything ready?"

"Yes. Our first meeting will occur this afternoon."

"I take it that you have made all preparations for Phase Three...?"

Dr. Ritsuko Akagi took a shallow intake of breath then replied.

"All of the equipment is in place, all we need is the Third."

"Perfect" smiled Gendo Ikari. "Our new weapon will be ours to wield."

"What? A new Eva?" said a surprised Misato Katsuragi as she turned towards Makoto Hyuga. The shorthaired, bespectacled tech had become, after the fourteenth, her own personal intelligence agent in NERV because of the resources and contacts he had in the whole institution. He usually hanged out with a lot of colleagues from various departments and that type of company provided him, during friendly talks about their work, with useful information that allowed the purple-haired guardian and Commander of Operations to get a better feel of what was really happening out there in the Geofront and abroad. Since one of her best friends, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, had become useless because of her involvement in the E-Project and the fact that she was more than intimate with the Supreme Commander, the Major had had to find other 'moles' in the organization. Makoto had gladly accepted that job since it was a way for him to hone his skills as a hacker and helped him, too, to understand what was happening around him. There was also the fact that he had a crush on his superior but Misato had no time to pursue a relationship right now. The Angels did not care about human feelings and had no trouble wiping out thousands of people.

"Yes. My sources in China are clear on that."

"What of their reliability?"

The tech shook his head. "He's a good friend of mine. He's got no reason to lie to me. He owes me some favors that date back to my 'helping' his admittance in NERV so he's got no problem repaying me back with...some classified data."

"I see. So much for our confidentiality decree."

"Anyway, according to him, the Eva will be shipped by aircraft to the international airport in a couple of weeks. He wasn't able to give some details about the way they built it or if it has some new features but he gave me some hints that it would basically look like the old Eva Unit 00 but with some minor features from Unit 03 and Unit 04" the tech declared. He looked around, at the bridge over the Geofront's lake. Whenever Hyuga had 'something' for Misato he would fix a meeting with her at that place, knowing that there were no hidden microphones in that area. The other nice characteristic of this area was that the air currents that blew around created a very low hum as they rebounded off some concrete walls or passed through the bridge's metal suspension rods. That low-frequency sound and its harmonics played hell with microphones thus preventing any Section Two agent from listening to them. Since Hyuga had once belonging to the technician group that had studied the 'holes' in the surveillance and security network inside the Geofront, such a weak spot was no secret from him and served as a 'private discussion' area when the need arose

"Is there a pilot coming along with it?"

"It doesn't seem so. But do we need a new one?" asked Makoto as he pushed back his glasses back on the bridge of his nose, clearly reminding Misato of their Supreme Commander. "After all, Rei is still without an Eva."

"Makes sense. But we never know. After all, our 'beloved' Commander seems to have distanced himself from Rei."

"Perhaps. But why would he go through more trouble by waiting for a new pilot to get properly trained? Asuka and Rei had to work for several years in order to synch with their Evas...so why bother when you've already got what you need?"

"This organization is still full of surprises, Makoto. You never know what's in store for you until it happens or it is right before you and you cannot do anything anymore to mend it." Misato recalled the day where she had learnt about Touji's new status as the Fourth Child. She had not been able to bring herself to tell Shinji about it and both of them had paid the high price for her silence. She still had nightmares about that unpleasant memory. "It's true that all the candidates have been regrouped in Shinji's school by that fictional organization the Marduk Institute but the Seventeenth Angel was not one of them. He directly arrived from SEELE. So it should be wise not to think that all of our pilots will come from Tokyo-03 but eventually from some dark place from the globe where it is hard to get their credentials and past life information. That..." her eyes narrowed as she recalled Kaoru's smiling face during one of his rather unsettling Eva synchronization tests. "...And the fact that distrust is so high now inside NERV that an eventual new pilot will be looked at with a less-than-friendly eye and will be given the cold shoulder by most employees who know the truth behind the Fifth Child and what he truly was. It wouldn't surprise me if the _pilot_ doesn't resign right after his activation because he got spooked, with the way we'd all behave around him. I even doubt that the Commanders will risk engaging a new pilot, to conclude."

"...Anyway...do you want me to dig further into that matter?"

"...Yes. Find whatever you can for me. I've got this bad feeling that some people right here..." she looked at the headquarters' pyramid, taking in the sharpness of Mankind's symbol of ambition and narrowing her eyes at the construction and paused before continuing. "...Are up to no good."

The Chinese port of Hangzhou had become, after the Second Impact, the replacement for the military base of Ningbo, which had once housed one of the most important combat fleets of the People's Liberation Army, the _Renmin Jiefang Zhun_. Dozens of submarines and mass-produced frigates and light destroyers had found there their home, before countless tidal waves and natural disasters had driven them out of their artificial haven, sometimes sending one of these proud ships to the bottom of the ocean. But that was nothing compared to what the motherland had suffered. The radical changes of climate that had occurred in the aftermath of the cataclysm had brought but ruin and desolation in the population basin that once was western China. Crops were destroyed, houses were wrecked, cities were abandoned to chaos and the government, decimated by numerous revolution attempts, was only a ghost of its former self. China had then been divided in fives different countries, with two of them falling in the grasp of charismatic dictators, two others still keeping the old beliefs of Maoism and the last one trying to open to the west by embracing blatant capitalism. But that state hadn't lasted long for in 2009 the two communist countries reclaimed total control of China, restoring authority throughout the ruined land. It had taken them five more years to rebuild from anew and even though, China did not have its lost splendor anymore. Nearly half of its population had died in the many conflicts that had riddled the entire continent or during Second Impact; economy was non-existent and politic matters were but an afterthought in the mind of the Chinese.

And today, China was still staggering, trying to come back at its old state of Middle Empire, the pearl of Asia.

The renamed United Federation of China had found useful support in the United Nations but still kept itself away from its political beliefs, trying to prove that Marx' and Mao's ideas were superior to the impotent and soulless dreams of the West. International relations were a mix of friendliness and hate, punctuated by major and sporadic exchanges of heated words between nations' representatives and threats of open war. But the UFC was no more a power to be reckoned with in Asia. Even South Korea or the half-drown Thailand could easily outmatch it in military terms, not having suffered the pain of disintegrating as a country and being reborn to only find the agony of reconstruction.

And today...a task of great importance and of tremendous proportions was being carried out in the People's Liberation Army's airport at Hangzhou. Hundreds of armed sentinels surrounded the complex's grounds, keeping unwanted spectators at bay, in order to maintain confidentiality. Even snipers and marksmen of different regiments could be seen scanning the horizon in search for something suspicious that might put their mission in danger and most surprising, tanks were witnessed rolling out in an all-out demonstration of force, deterring any possible enemy from trying to disturb what was currently happening at the airport. A dozen heavy trucks of various types were constantly rolling down the taxiways, bringing equipment from one place to another in an endless dance. Hundreds of tubes and wirings of all sorts were sprawled throughout the complex, all leading to mobile command posts, from which senior generals directed the preparations to a major mission they were assigned.

Inside the biggest hangar of the base was a single aircraft, but one that could easily outsize every heavy bomber or fighter in the country. Towering high above the ground, its form was that of a kite, its sweptback wings slowly dropping towards the tarmac in order to minimize the drag forces at high altitude and sixteen reactors were hanging from their front edge, giving a clear idea of the amount of thrust needed to tear the airplane out of the earth's gravity pull. The Boeing C94 _Leviathan_ had been designed as a long endurance, heavy payload carrier two years after Third Impact, in order to bring goods and equipment throughout the United States, taking part in the efforts to help the homeless and famished population, before being assigned to international relief missions. It had proved most useful during those years of despair, bringing tons of food and vital materiel all around the world. People had begun to call it the 'Liberation Bird' and at least twenty-six countries and a dozen private or governmental organizations had adopted it,NERV among the lot.

The C94 had been the replacement of other many other cargo aircrafts like the Russian Antonov AN124 and AN225 _Dream_ and the American C5 _Galaxy_, once the greatest to every fly before being dwarfed by a vehicle whose name fitted quite perfectly. Even the low-flying _Pelican_ ULTRA could not compete with it in terms of capacity, speed and economy. Its back doors had been opened wide in order to get its cargo inside its main holding bay. Two gigantic ramps had been rolled out, as well as two enormous beams made of pure titanium, under which hung two heavy winches. They moved backwards, so that they could grab the tremendous object that slowly crept towards the _Leviathan_'s aft doors. The hundred-wheel heavy trailerthat was carrying it came to a stop, as the two beams lowered themselves towards the prone form. Mechanical claws closed around hard-points and started to pull upwards, slowly lifting their charge off the ground. The hundred-some technicians that were working around the aircrafts all looked on, lost in the spectacle they were witnessing.

The carrying chariot slid forwards, guided by the two beams, driving the behemoth deep into the innards of the airplane. Soon, the figure disappeared in the underbelly of the 'Liberation Bird', where it would remain so for a couple of days, enough for NERV officials to see if everything had been done in accord to their own directives. Final tests were then to be carried out, before the plane would roll out on the main runway.

Eva Unit 05 was ready for shipment.

Shinji found himself, alone with his two crutches, in front of Lab 307, his right hand lifted to knock on the door. _What does she want with me?_ he wondered as he willed his knuckles to collide with the metallic surface. _Must be a physical._ He heard a soft rustle then the softly smiling face of Dr. Ritsuko Akagi came to his view, startling him from his reverie. She raised an eyebrow at his start.

"Ah...sorry...doctor...you startled me."

"Ah! Then _I_ must apologize for doing so. Come in" she said, beckoning him inside. As he stepped in he could see the outlines of a sort of bedlike-seat and a dozen electronic walls all around him. Lights were blinking, whilst a soft humming could be seen coming from various pieces of equipment. There was a single desk, upon which rested at least ten or twelve computers, with high-resolution monitors and high-precision touch pads. He realized that the place was literally flooded with wires as he nearly tripped on one of them.

"Yes, sorry...I've forget to tell you: watch out for the wires. I don't want to worsen your state" she said as she gave him a comforting smile, which Shinji returned wearily. "Sit there while I explain you." She gestured to the curious seat, which reminded him of those used by dentists, whose back could be lowered so that its recipient would find himself gazing at the ceiling. Shinji propped himself on it and set his two crutches near him. "Okay, Shinji. Here we go. I'm going to do some tests to see if your body has completely healed from your injuries. These boxes, here..." she pointed to two Cray XMP supercomputer towers. "...Will record all of your vital statistics and try to give us a picture of your current status. We're actually trying to find a way to reduce synch tests' duration by optimizing the connection between the pilot and the Eva. But for that we'll have to know everything about your body and the way it works." Her hand shot towards two panelsthat wereset on each side of his seat's headboard. "And those will record your brain's activity. They will attempt to determine your thoughts' pattern, wavelength and overall variations, I won't explain it to you unless you want to know everything about synapses, axons and neurons. Do you?"

Shinji declined the offer, already feeling the headaches such a lesson would give him.

"I will give you some electrodes right here..." She showed him two small circular objects, which were attached to thin translucent wires. "Those are the ECG receptors. I'll probably do you a M.R.I. and some other minor tests so that we'll have a full idea of what's happening in your body."

"Okay..." Shinji said, not liking the idea of having someone get intimate with his body, even if it was for his own good.

"Don't worry about it. Just look straight at this screen, right here." She lowered a television screen from the ceiling and fixed it in front of the Third Child's face. "This will help to get you asleep."

"You need to get me asleep?"

"When I say asleep, I mean half-asleep. I want you somewhere between unconsciousness and full consciousness. I cannot ask you to stay thoughtless for three or four hours, Shinji. It's impossible. So we'll have to reduce your brain's activity another way. I don't either want to have you develop contradicting thoughts during the test. One second you think 'red', the other 'blue'. I don't want that, it will fuck up our recordings and bring us to wrong conclusions and probably mess up our calculations. I want to have you 'bare-minded', okay. Don't worry, it's harmless" she reassured the pilot as he sunk lower in his seat.

"Well, try to rest, think about nothing and...Shinji?"

"Yes, doctor?" The Third Child's head turned towards her, only to see the scientist give him a small smile.

"Relax."

"...O...okay..."

"Perfect." She manipulated a couple of switches, pushed on countless numbers of buttons on the electronic walls and came back to the command desk, which was set behind Shinji's seat. She took her seat then activated the main computer, a two-year old IBM massively parallel mainframe. Lights lit up everywhere around the pilot as numerous systems came to life and the hum rose to a higher pitch. Dr. Ritsuko Akagi looked at a couple of screens then back at the nervous pilot.

"Don't forget, Shinji. Relax. Everything's okay. Your heart's rate's too high."

"S...sorry."

"And don't apologize!" she said jokingly, trying to chase away the tension that seemed to cripple the air around her, making the atmosphere heavier than before.

The boy let out a little chuckle as he tried to control his heart and drop his beat rate.

"Okay, that's better. Now look in front of you."

Shinji's eyes shot open as the screen lit up, but showed nothing. "Is...is it normal that I don't see anything?"

"Yes...but we're sending you light rays of various wavelengths towards your eyes, to see the way they react to it. We'll get a mathematical figure out of your optic nerves' pulses and that will help us understand your vision's parameters."

"Ah." Then the screen started to flash.

"You're not epileptic, I hope?"

"No, why?"

"Because epileptic people cannot bear to see lights that blink at least three times a second. It's called the 'Flicker' effect and it usually triggers an attack."

"Ah. But...no, your curriculum vitae's biostat doesn't mention it. Perfect. Let's proceed."

Then she flipped a switch, the sound of that little piece of plastic releasing itself from one position to rest in another being the last thing the young man would hear for a certain amount of time.

Throughout the two panels near the child's head coursed an extremely high amount of energy, which was translated into electromagnetic waves as it went through certain materials. The two HF transmitters then began to emit at a certain multiple frequency pattern, directly copied from Shinji's brain's electrical activity and his EEG. Invisible waves soon began to flow between the two pieces of metal and silica, entering the boy's head with ease and pervading the organ inside. Two nearly identical energies soon began to mingle and interfere, the most powerful one overriding the other. Shinji's body tensed as he sensed his entire body stiffening from the invasion.

For a couple of seconds the radiated energy flowed in perfect synchronicity with its organic counterpart before the blond-haired scientist pushed another button. This time, the intensity of the discharge was increased twofold, causing the Third Child to suddenly blank out as his mind's will was neutralized by an enormous amount of electrical impulses, all of which overwhelmed his tired hemispheres. The organ recognized a certain pattern of mental commands then suddenly submitted to the new source of decision. Its most basic functions (heartbeat, breathing) were still maintained, but the center of his initiative had been subdued. The cortex, source of intelligence and of logic, was being artificially shut down as its signals were being redirected to the most primal parts of the brain. In paradox, the Rachidian bulb, center of all reflexes, was working at full speed, edged on by orders that came from the outside. In the meantime, the luminous screen continued to flash, but in an erratic way. The information sent by the optic nerves serving, too, as a way to corrupt the Third Child's mind and rob him of his free will.

The boy's eyes were wide open, staring in surprise at the rectangle of blinking light in front of him, his limbs frozen. He wasn't even aware of what was happening to him, his brain long since freed of its necessity to process and analyze what was going on. Then the wave pattern began to change, sending elaborate commands to course through the gray matter, causing axons to fire great amounts of electrical pulses through certain areas of his thinking organ, the nexus relinquishing themselves without further thought at their new master's bidding. Hormones were flowing through his head, sending messages, too, to various parts of his anatomy and the throne of his will. Shinji Ikari's brain had become, in a way, a sort of computer, with orders sent through a terminal and carried out through tiny conductive threads into a highly sophisticated processing matrix. A robot.

Ritsuko led a certain number of checkups then rose from her seat, sighed heavily then took a syringe from a bag. She popped out its lid and took the paralyzed arm of the Eva pilot, searching for a vein. Her choice made, she then plunged the needle into the frail vessel and gave him the shot, flooding his bloodstream with a tranquilizer that would soon render him senseless. With the worry of receiving feelings from his highly evolved nervous system over, Shinji's brain would then focus on more pressing matters. That Dr. Akagi would choose herself.

She looked with a face full of commiseration and regret at the frozen boy, sensing regret coursing through her limps and numbing her head.

"I'm so sorry, Shinji...I'm so sorry...but I didn't have a choice...but you must believe me..." she pleaded as if he was able to hear and understand her. "But...in the end...or so I hope...it'll be for...your own good...yes...your own...good" she choked, as if the words couldn't get out anymore. She then took a deep breath, gazed at the Eva pilot with eyes full of sorrow and staggered back towards the desk.

She dropped in her chair, took her own heads in her hands and murmured a silent apology to her patient, before entering a new command in the TERASYS-3 console in front of her. As she pushed the key, a current electric current was interrupted under the little piece of plastic. A small chip then noted the change in frequency and translated it into a '0' bit. The microchip then searched for other pushed buttons, in order to find familiar commands like CTRL, SHIFT or ALT. When it failed to do so it sent another, coded electrical current towards the mainframe whose artificial brain processed and sent towards a new terminal, a black box set right behind the Third Child's head. The little computer in it translated the message into new orders, which in turn, triggered a change in the television screen in front of the boy's eyes. It went black for a couple of milliseconds then a new electron pulse made its way through the vacuum of the cathode tube and struck a set of filters, which turned the waves into colors. The image then found itself going through glass towards the face of a mindless young man.

A single word started to flash in front of Shinji's eyes.

At the same moment, the electromagnetic pulse pattern changed, causing the 'memory' part of his brain to lit up, among them his prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus. The word burned into the Child's cornea, then went to the brain through its optic nerve, to be stored in one of the darkest places of his pink-gray organ, one that was so remote that its owner wouldn't be able to remember its content when he would wake up. In the meantime, electrical waves stimulated specific areas of the gray matter that 'housed' the part of the mind called 'unconsciousness'. A link started to form between the two with incredible clarity, since memories were stocked inside the brain as electric charges and the current treatment the doctor was giving was depending on that particular form of energy. Ritsuko then changed the transmitting frequency so that his attention would be maximized. She then activated a sound file on her computer and loudspeakers then began to diffuse the mysterious name, the speaker darkly familiar to the Eva pilot.

And the treatment went on, as Shinji started to memorize what would be the key to a new Pandora's box.

"Hey, Asuka!" greeted a visibly tired Hikari Horaki as she went next to her friend. She had not been able to talk to her that morning because of her duties as a class representative and had waited all morning long for a chance to talk with her friend. Being next to the teacher's desk, it was nearly impossible to her to chat with the German girl without being noticed by the old, droning man. She had had to wait for the lunch bell to see her wish come true.

"Hey, Hikari! How you doin'?"

"Okay...just a bit tired...you know?" She smiled with a small trace of embarrassment.

"Yeah, the party. We're lucky we didn't drink that much. Look at those jocks!" she smirked, pointing towards Touji and Kensuke, who were both heavy-lidded and as fresh as two-month old fishes. Their clothes were rumpled and their eyes red and they were both limping towards the exit, in front of puzzled students who were wondering what was happening to them.

"Getting drunk with Bacardi Breezers, really!" grumbled Asuka.

"I think they got vodka, too, from that guy...Shigeru, isn't it?" she mused as she tried to recall yesterday's party. "No wonder they look so bad today."

"What an understatement..."

"Yeah, whatever. Shinji's not there?" she asked as she looked at the classroom, trying to find the familiar dark-haired boy.

"No, he has to do some tests at NERV. Physicals, mostly."

"Ah. I see. I hope he gets better soon. You're missing so much lessons nowadays with those Angel attacks," she stated.

"Don't get me started" grumbled a less-than-happy Asuka, vexed at being told that she was missing school when she didn't need it. "Anyway I got my university degree, so...where's the trouble?"

"If so, how did you manage to fail your first term exams?"

The German fumed as she recalled that unpleasant memories and the speech Misato had given her about learning kanji and being able to read Japanese correctly. Better than admit one of her weakness, she huffed and crossed her arms, clearly intent on not pursuing the matter.

"Hrrmph! Could we please change the subject? Really, did Misato tell you to pester me, too? It's seems like everyone is ganging up on me!"

"Is it so?" Hikari let out a small laugh.

"Yeah! And you better not make another comment like that, you hear me?" she pointed an accusing finger towards her friend.

"Yeah, yeah...sorry."

"Hmph! So, apart from that, what're you doing this afternoon?"

"Me?" The pigtailed girl remained pensive for a moment then answered. "Nothing, I guess. Why?"

"Care to join me home for a drink? That idiot can even cook us dinner, if you want."

"...Errr...no thanks, I'll still have to cook dinner for my two sisters so there's no need in inviting me for that...but I'll go for the drinks."

"Great!" The redhead's smile grew wider.

"Shinji?"

The Third Child's mind was in turmoil. It felt like his entire body was on fire yet but his nerves were only sending him sensations of numbness and coldness. As he tried to get back his bearings, he looked around, his eyes scanning the surroundings but not seeing a single thing. He could only make out colorful blurs and 'blobs' of light. His head throbbed to the point that he couldn't get a single thought straight, not getting used to have its free will back.

"Shinji, are you alright?"

"Huh?" he croaked.

His head slowly turned, softly swaying as it changed its position, towards the source of the sound...or at least where he thought it would be...

"No, the other side, Shinji. I'm on the other side."

He looked at his right and saw the concerned face of Ritsuko Akagi a meter from him.

"I...I..."

"I guess you aren't feeling well...it's one of our systems' drawbacks, unfortunately. They're too early in their stage of conception to be flawless, as you can see it."

Shinji numbly nodded, trying to process his superior's sentences. He couldn't understand everything because of the state of his mind. Even his five senses were completely confused. Her words had come completely deformed, her tone going from one pitch to the other, sometimes high, the other low. His pupils were dilated and he was already sweating. It looked like he was going on a fever.

"Sit back down and relax, Shinji. I'll try to get you a sleeping pill if you're not feeling well, or aspirin if you want."

He nodded again.

Ritsuko looked at his frowning face as he tried to cope with the return of reality, his mind being reborn to the world that had forsaken him.

"Poor child."

And she went back to help the dizzy young man to get back to full health.

"So...was Phase Three Part One successful?" asked Gendo Ikari at his phone's handset.

"I see. So, his return to awareness was rather troublesome, did you say?"

Gendo Ikari stared at the Kabbalah, trying to find in the intricate network of lines, esoteric symbols and circles of life a message telling him what he had to do next. Unsurprisingly, he found none. Yet that didn't mean that he didn't know what was to come and how to deal with it. He was a man of planning and foresight. He saw events from afar and set things in order to meet them appropriately.

"But the process was successful, wasn't it?"

He waited for a couple of seconds then spoke up.

"Is he fit, right now? Ah...he left in good shape...perfect."

Gendo tilted his head to the side, as his eyes traced over the contours of the _Binah_ Sefira, taking in the sight of the Hebraic words written all around it. _Spirit._

"Is there no side effects of his treatment...I mean, visible?"

He then looked to its right counterpart, _Hochma._

_Highest wisdom._

His gaze went down the enormous drawing plastered on the ceiling, traveling along the eighth and eleventh Channels, Vau and Kaph, passing through the Fourth Sefira, _Chesed._ Mercy and magnificence.

"None? Very well. Carry on like that and make sure he attends the other sessions."

He then found himself drawn into the familiar, circular shape of the Seventh Sefira, his favorite.

_Nisah._

Victory.

Success.

"Really, Hikari, I don't understand you! Why, of all people, all stooges included, did you have to bring _her_?" hissed a more-than-angry Asuka as she stomped back to the apartment.

"But...I thought it would be nice..." apologized an embarrassed Hikari, waving her hand in front of her as she tried to calm the fiery redhead's rising temper.

"Nice! Talk about 'nice'! She'll ruin all the mood, damn it!" she snarled back.

"But..."

"What?"

"I thought that a little drink between pilots and classmates would be nice, wouldn't it?" Hikari said as she cast a glance behind her, towards the third member of the trio, following from a short distance but lost in her own thoughts.

"Really, Hikari. Inviting Rei home...she's a perfect mood-killer."

"Come on!" said an indignant Class Rep. "She can't be that bad! Give her some credit!"

The German girl then grumbled something nearly inaudible but Hikari was able to make out the word 'doll'. They finally arrived at the apartment and waited for Asuka to slide her card through the reader. As the door slid open, the Eva pilot called her familiar 'I'm home!' eliciting a 'welcome home' from Major Katsuragi, who already was back from work.

"Oh, hello, Major" said Hikari as she saw the purple-haired Commander of Operations sitting in front of the television, a six-packs of beer at her side. The Class Representative's eyes bulged out when she realized that that woman was really intent on drinking all those cans for the entire evening.

"Hello, Hikari. Oh! Hello, Rei!" said Misato as she spotted the silent blue-haired girl behind a disgruntled Asuka. "What brings you two here?"

"Well, I decided to bring Hikari along for a drink but _she_ decided to bring _Rei_ with us. She thought that 'a little drink between pilots and classmates would be nice', as she put it." Hikari blushed as she heard Asuka's tone.

"Well, ain't that a good idea!" exclaimed the German's guardian. "The more the merrier."

Asuka buried her face in her arms while Rei looked on, not understanding what her commander meant. "I believe I do not understand the meaning of that statement, Major."

Misato winced at the robot-like tone the Eva pilot took, remembering her origins.

"It means...it means that the more there are guests, the more there is the chance to have fun!" _That's it. She'll understand that._

"But...what is the meaning of the word 'fun', Major? Such a concept I'm not familiar with."

Asuka muttered a 'kill me' from her place whilst Hikari looked on with wide open eyes and Misato started to develop a cringe and a massive sweat-drop, dreading the numerous explications, questions and answers to come.

It was then that the door opened, revealing a worn-out Shinji. He quietly slipped inside the apartment and went inside the living room, only to find his classmates and his guardian chatting inside, all trying to explain to Rei the meaning and implications of the word 'fun'. The Major then seemed ready to run out of the window as Rei gave her a question about entertainment but she was not able to do so as she finally noticed the tired form of the Third Child, who was limping towards them, shifting his weight on his two crutches. If Misato didn't know better, she would've thought that Shinji was suffering from a massive hangover.

"Shinji!"

"Hello, Misato. I'm...home..."

"Well, idiot? Where've you been? You look like hell!"

Shinji sighed.

"I've been doing some tests inside NERV at Ritsuko's."

"Pilot Soryu is correct in her assessment, Pilot Ikari. You do not look well and your appearance does not bode well for your ability to recover. You should take some medication," added Rei, earning from her classmates and the Major odd looks. Seeing her showing concern was as rare as seeing a hippopotamus flying through the sky and singing Haendel's _Hallelujah._

"Th...thanks for your concern, Rei...I think I'll follow your advice...but according to Ritsuko, it's nothing serious...I just have to rest...I'm really exhausted" he said then turned back towards his room to take a well-deserved nap. Then, as he made his way through the corridor several voices rose, breaking the awkward silence. And all hell broke loose.

"Hey, come back, idiot! You still have to make us dinner!"

"Asuka! Can't you see he's tired? Give him a rest!"

"By the way, Major, you still haven't told me how can entertainment make one feel better."

"NOOOOOOO!"

Ah, well. You said it before.

_Some things did change but some others didn't._

It was going to be a long evening, once again.

* * *

_**To be continued...**_

* * *

**A/N:**

**01°)** The Morningstar is the nickname given by the Angels to the mighty Lucifer, at least in popular beliefs. Lucifer was, along with Satan (in Arabic, _Ha-Satan_ or _Shaitan_ means 'the enemy'), one of the most powerful servants of God, and the only one allowed to stand to the Almighty's right side. He had six pairs of wings and could be seen shining early in the morning. But one day and because of his pride, he decided not to bow before Man, despite God's own words ('Bow before him and love him because he's my only and true son'). His disobedience earned him the wrath of his creator, who cast him in the deepest pits of hell, along with his followers. Historically, Lucifer was assimilated to Satan because of his pagan origins. In fact, Lucifer ('Lux, lucis' - light - + 'Fers, fertur' - to bear -) was a Roman god called the Lightbearer and whose star (Venus) was adored by numerous people. But a passage in the Bible's Book of Isaiah (14:12) referred to a certain 'Day Star' who attempted to reach the heavens and gain divinity. He never succeeded, for he was cast down by the Almighty and sent to be laid low beneath the Earth. That individual, which most people believed to be Lucifer because of the familiar title, was in fact the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, who longed for Ascension and ultimate power (note that many kings -and especially pharaohs- considered themselves to be of divine descent and legitimated their earthly authority through that claim). Many monks then believed - and the idea was too much to pass on since it was so dramatic - that the anecdote was talking about a fallen angel, one of God's most beloved rebelling against His authority and being demised from his heavenly position. Saint Jerome and other 'fathers' of the Church then used that image to represent Satan and since then Lucifer has been considered by masses as the leader of the fallen angels. The same could be said of Beelzebub, who originally was a Babylonian deity, whose original name spelling was 'Baal Zebul' or 'Baalzebub' Baal of the Flies (Baal is often represented by a fly). Those two individuals were then assimilated by early Christianity so that more and more adepts could be recruited by the then-expanding religion.

**02°)** The Boeing _Pelican_ ULTRA is actually a heavy payload aircraft studied by the U.S. Army as a means to deploy, in less than week, an entire regiment or division overseas. Being twice as long and as large as a Boeing 747, the _Pelican_ can hold, in four different bays of great dimensions, at least seventeen seventy-two-ton M1A2 _Creighton Abrams_ main battle tanks, along with a couple of light trucks. Looking quite like a World War II bird with its straight, perpendicular and simple lines, the _Pelican_, is powered by four turbopropellers and uses ground effect as well as the particular form of its wings rectangular and bent downwards at their tips to minimize fuel consumption. Specifically designed to be an alternate choice to the Navy's and U.S. Marine Corps' amphibious landing ships or their new twin-hulled Roll-on, Roll-offs (Ro-Ro), the _Pelican_ is still but at an early stage of study but if it were to be approved for production and built, it would then become the largest plane ever to fly.

**03°)** The Cray XMP really exists and is used mainly by meteorologists or biologists in order to crack high numbers of raw data and process important amounts of information. It basically looks like a dodecagonal-shaped cylinder the size of a phone booth, with a base of a higher diameter. The XMP has been 'replaced' or superseded by its cousin the YMP which is often used by cryptographers to crack codes and other ciphers. The TERASYS is actually a highly sophisticated console built by the NSA for entering commands inside their deciphering mainframes.

**04°)** The whole mind-control theory was inspired by an unproved and not-so-credible, yet interesting in concept, conspiracy found on http: about how CIA and NSA used low-frequency radio waves to enter one's mind and use the human brain as a remote transmitter. The technician behind the control machine would, once the connection is achieved, receive images coming directly from the subject's point of view and would thus be able to monitor him from afar. Further theories (if they can be called so) pointed out the fact that the tech would also be able, through specific electrical impulses, to force feelings and other opinions into the 'patient's' mind. Again, there's no proof of these allegations, even though they are good material for espionage novels. Some other elements were also taken from rumors saying that the Pentagon had led, during the Cold War, numerous large-scale experiences using electromagnetic waves to spread fear throughout an eventual enemy's ranks, causing its soldiers to flee away for no obvious reason and thus disrupt the front. Those 'it-is-said-that' stories have been fueled by the fact that most of CIA's famous 'dark' operations and studies like 'Starship' (reportedly studies on telepathy and other uncommon types of communication) or the Pentagon's atmospheric HAARP program are still shrouded in secrecy, the thought providing excellent grounds for wild, preposterous speculation. However, subliminal messages are quite frequent in modern life, especially through media and consumption-favorable material. One of the best-known examples is to slip a picture inside a film between two others so that the spectators would only get a glimpse of it, but would _not_ be able to _recognize_ it because it has already disappeared. In some cases, they won't even notice the event as their mind is focusing elsewhere. And THAT is where resides the viciousness of such a concept. The brain would actually _store_ the picture in a dark place of your memory even though you haven't still recognized it or been able to remember it correctly, and induce some things inside your mind like opinions, sudden cravings or simple unease. For example, you can insert a picture of a Coca-Cola bottle that lasts less than half a second in a movie and suddenly, just after having 'seen' it, you feel like being thirsty. And what happens next to you? There's a hostess ten meters away asking if someone in the theater would like to have some drinks, snacks or popcorn. And of course, since you've got a sudden thirst or hunger, you'll purchase anything that would quench those two feelings. Yeah, sad but true. Those are actual, verified facts that clearly show how dark, easily twisted and weak our mind is. There are some widely rumors that subliminal messages were used in the 'Fight Club' film but the list of their content is unknown right now.


	8. Chapter 08: Crystal Eyes And Heart Of Ic...

**Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Beast Inside**

**Written by abi2301**

**Chapter 08**

**v.01: 12/02/2004**

**Official disclaimer:**

The Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series are the intellectual and material property of Gainax Studios, ADVision, Inc., Shonen Ace magazine, Hideaki Anno and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. All rights reserved. 'NGE: The Beast Inside' is a purely fictional series based upon the original NGE and written for entertainment purpose only. No money is made out of it.

* * *

**Chapter 08: _Crystal Eyes And Heart Of Ice / Hearing The Faint Call Of War_**

_In every grave make room, make room! The world's at an end, and we come, we come._

**Sir William D'AVENANT, _The Law against Lovers_ (1673) act 3, sc. 1 'Viola's Song'**

_The most persistent sound which reverberates through man's history is the beating of war drums._

**Arthur KOESTLER, _Janus_ (1978), prologue**

_A desperate disease requires a dangerous remedy._

**Guy FAWKES, 6 November 1605. _Dictionary of National Biography_ (1917) vol. 6, p. 1132. Cf. Hamlet 353**

_

* * *

_

_As the days dragged on, as the week neared to an end, Shinji kept on visiting Dr. Ritsuko Akagi at her lab, attending with ironical but well-meant punctuality her dreadful sessions, thinking to work for his own good, whilst in fact he was slowly falling into the pit of pain and suffering he had dug for himself._

_He would always come down to the small room with a clear mind only to come out worn and completely tired, as if he'd been forced to do intensive workouts. He would never remember what had happened during those sessions, as he was supposed to be in a plane between the states of consciousness and unconsciousness. But he would never believe that the blond-haired doctor that seemed so concerned for his well being was in fact tampering with his mind, slowly stealing away his self-control and preparing him for an event that has yet to come._

_Misato and his friends only noticed the gravity of his tiredness but since they were familiar with the long hours of synching with the Evas and the strain they caused, they didn't suspect that a dark scheme was unfolding behind this peculiar activity. They just assumed that it was caused by the physicals and Shinji's current bad health. His legs were starting to feel better but he still felt down, as if his strength had been robbed out of him. His condition was such that his two roommates had to take over some of his weekly chores, much to a certain redhead's annoyance. Even though Shinji knew that he could not walk away from these sessions, he inwardly longed to stop them and avidly awaited the end of the week, when would at least come the day of deliverance and of rest._

_Apart from those private matters, nothing much had changed during those seven days, if one didn't count Rei's renewed visits at the Ikari/Katsuragi/Soryu household as 'unusual'. Apparently, she had found in Major Katsuragi a new source of information and answer for her seeming endless torrent of questions, born of a crucial interrogation that was plaguing her mind: what is it to have feelings. Even though those meetings were slowly getting on her nerves, the purple-haired Major continued on giving Rei explanations about human relations and social concepts. She knew how and why Rei was so unfamiliar with those matters and gladly took part in long, arduous discussions that were close to fry her brains. She hoped that, in some way or another, it would help Rei figure out her own feelings and become more humane and open to the world around her._

_Work at NERV had resumed with perfect normalcy. Asuka's synch tests were carried out with success, the readings showing a clear increase of her synchronization ratio. Curiously, the spike in her chart coincided with the return of a particular dark-haired boy at her apartment but no one voiced that fact in fear of becoming the target of her legendary short temper. All the 'bridge bunnies' seemed to be in much higher spirits ever since the welcome back party at Misato's a week ago...a strange contrast to Dr. Ritsuko Akagi's tiredness, which only Maya noticed but kept silent, along with the fact that her mentor had taken to gobble down huge amounts of Diazepam anxiolytics and Aspirin tablets. NERV's alertness level had been raised from five to three, ever since the strange phenomena that had occurred all around the world. And with every passing day, strange testimonies were being reported to NERV about unexplained, large-scale events. As if something was bound to occur in the next days._

_As Sunday died in a colorful sunset that sent ochre hues to wash all over the quiet city of Tokyo-3, a once again exhausted Shinji Ikari found himself gazing at the metropolis from his apartment's balcony..._

_It's been five weeks, now. What's changed? Nothing, except the fact that my life still looks like hell. And I don't run away from it anymore...at least for the time being._ His eyes darted from building to building, taking in their sharp, unmoving forms, quietly watching the sun set between two gigantic skyscrapers. The color of the sky slowly changed as the glowing orb disappeared over the horizon, its rays' frequency slowly decreasing and causing the human eye to interpret them to be of a dark pitch. His eyes shifted downwards, towards the street a dozen stories beneath, where children could be seen playing, enjoying the last minutes of luminosity before their parents would call them back home for dinner.

_At least they don't have to worry about future. Unlike you_, he thought grimly as he remembered his lack of happiness in his childhood.

A hand slapped on his shoulder, startling him.

"Hey!"

"Well, looks like someone's having a heart attack, here, don't you, Shinji?" said a smirking Asuka.

"W...well...you shouldn't creep on me like that, you know..." he said while holding a hand close to his madly beating heart.

"Ah, but where would then be the fun? Surprising someone implies stealth and...complete surprise."

Shinji sweat-dropped as the redhead dodged the subject.

"Anyway...what were you looking at? Zoning out, as usual?"

"Oh, come on, Shinji. Tell me" she said in an exasperated tone.

"Why would you want to know?" he asked, as he wondered why she would enquire about his doings. She never did that for she always deemed herself above the others and did not take interest in what her contemporaries did.

Asuka opened her mouth to answer in what seemed for her looks an indignant tone but stopped. Her eyes then filled with a dark cloud as she secretly tried not to say something that would show a clear sign of weakness and dependence. She decided to come up with another question.

"Can't I ask about it?"

"Well...yeah...it's just that...it's so unlike you to ask me questions about what I'm doing..."

"Hmph! Idiot!" she grumbled as she gave him a slap to the side of his head. His throbbing cranium amplified the pain and he winced, trying not to collapse.

"Hey...why do you always have to slap me?" he asked in an indignant tone.

"Because you deserve it, blockhead!" she muttered as she claimed one of the folding chairs on the balcony and dropped on it, stretching her sore legs. "Serves you right for asking stupid questions."

"Sorry."

"And stop saying you're sorry!"

"Sorry."

She shot him a murderous glance, causing him to cower in fear in a corner. "You're really an idiot."

"If you say so" sighed Shinji as he gazed again at the city, lost in the endless chirping song of the cicadas. He looked back at the relaxing German then turned his head eastwards, not wanting to be caught staring at her. She hated such a behavior and was eager to teach politeness to the ungentlemanly individual. _Well, better ask her now...or never._

"Asuka?" he asked without turning.

"What again?"

"I...I...well...I wanted to..." he stuttered, not finding his words.

"What? I don't have all day...well, all night, you know! SPIT IT OUT" she growled, trying to snap him from his usual shyness and lack of courage.

"Did...did you miss me during those weeks at the hospital?" _There, you've said it. Congrats. Let we all rejoice for thou hast finally voiced it. All hail Shinji the Wimp for his courage! Let the trumpets loose!_

"WHAT?" screeched his teammate, making his eardrums ache.

"Well...you know...Misato said...that you asked about me..." he stammered, trying to come up with an explanation. A sincere one, not an excuse.

"And so?" snarled the German as she recalled Misato's infuriating teasing. "Can't I ask about you? This place's been a mess without you! It was actually time you came back! I was tired to hell and gone of her neurotoxin-filled meals and her goddamn sloppiness! I wonder how could you live alone with her before my arrival!"

Shinji smiled inwardly as he remembered some memorable moments of his life with the purple-haired guardian and how he got to know her.

"I...somehow managed...it wasn't easy, but I managed."

"Lucky you..." she muttered under her breath.

"But...you didn't answer..."

She immediately stiffened.

"You don't know when to quit, do you?" she said with exasperation seeping in her voice. "I was only wanting to know when you'd come back, that's all! PERIOD, Ikari. PERIOD."

Shinji's face dropped. He had expected something not as vehement as that and his roommate's violence wounded him to the core.

"But..."

Shinji slowly turned around.

In time to see a small smile grace her face. It was actually hard to see it because of the sunset, but still, he could make out the upward curve that formed on her lips.

"But...yes...in a way...I did miss you. It's so different when you're not there anymore."

Shinji could not believe his ears. Asuka, actually ADMITTING that she had missed him? Impossible. He stood there, frozen, his entire body not responding to his brain's confused commands. The world was spinning around him as he tried to process that information, his broken mind straining to develop conclusions.

"...But don't you get any perverted IDEAS, Third Child!" she growled as she got up and started for the living room, towards heat, comfort and better entertainment. "I don't need a boyfriend!"

She then left him alone with his thoughts on the balcony, waiting only for the door to slide shut behind her to utter some heartfelt words.

"Not yet, anyway. There's still hope."

* * *

"Her synch ratio has skyrocketed?" frowned the elder Ikari as he went through several sheets of paper, full of mathematical figures and statistics.

"Yes. It does coincide with the Third's return, isn't it?" observed Fuyutsuki as he shot a glance towards the documents.

The bearded and bespectacled mastermind said nothing in return, opting to return into his deep thoughts, unmistakably trying to modify his private scenario so that it could fit the new development. He had foreseen such a probability but he had thought that it would be so...important to the continuation and concretization of his own designs.

"Is it possible that she has developed a liking to the Third?"

"...Possible."

"But they seem so...unalike..."

"Opposites attract each other, professor. Like magnets."

"I thought that the saying was 'those who are alike always get together'?"

"Where did you get that from, old friend?"

"French, I believe. They do have a lot of sayings for every facet of life. _Qui se ressemble s'assemble._"

"...I see. It does make those discussions interesting...but such contradictions should not exist when such words are filled with the...noble...intention of explaining the subtleties and truths of life, especially for the masses."

"But life is made of contradictions, Ikari. Just look at the Third and the Second. They _do _seem to get along, according to Section Two's reports."

Gendo Ikari seemed to ponder that last thought then leaned back on his chair, raising two fingers to push back his orange-tinged glasses on the bridge of his well-cut nose.

"Anyway, it doesn't matter as long as it doesn't impede on our business and their role as pilots. Let them play their childish games and develop a relationship between them if that is what they want. We can even turn it to our own advantage if necessary."

"But won't that influence your son when he will have to choose over..."

"With Phase Possession nearing to its end, we'll no more have to worry about it. He'll do as we tell him to."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Certain, professor."

* * *

"So, Shinji, how are you?" asked the blond-haired chairman of Project E, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi. 

"Fine, apart from those headaches. I'm really glad those sessions are now over" answered a worn-out Shinji Ikari, who was currently laying on a bed, once again subject to an intensive physical checkup. "I barely had the strength to move on my crutches afterwards."

"I know. Those examinations take a great toll on your health because of their thoroughness in fact, all of your bodily functions have been examined, and that means that during this week, more than a thousand experiments and other scans were performed in a very short amount of time...so it's no wonder you're feeling completely down. It's just that your body cannot keep up with our systems" she explained, once again reverting to her old, cold and methodic self. Science took, as always, over humanity when it came to survival and discovery. "You should actually be happy to have been subject to it instead of the traditional one it would have taken weeks if not months and you'd have to lay on a bed for hours while we make you pass M.R.I. tests, EEG, radiographies the nine whole yards."

"But...it's really over, isn't it?" frowned the Third Child as he indulged himself to close his eyes for a moment and forget about the tests.

"...Yes and no. The physicals are done, but we still have to see how well you'd perform now in Eva. But we'll do this according to the usual schedule, during your synch tests, so don't worry."

The individual once known worldwide as the Savior of Humanity let out a sigh, relieved to see his ordeal ended. Seven days of pain and confusion, mixed with uncertainty and a lot of headaches, had completely robbed him of his strength and that was without counting the fact of facing Dr. Akagi on a daily basis. After what he'd seen in the Chamber of Guf and her achievements as a protagonist of the Human Instrumentality Project, he'd never been able to look back at her without suppressing a shiver of fear and pent-up anger. Memories of the lifeless replacement bodies, floating in a tank of LCL, and of their disembowelment always came back to his mind's eye, to haunt him again and again and remind him of Man's folly and desperation. He knew very well that Dr. Akagi was, like him, a victim of the Curse of the Evangelions, but he couldn't accept the fact that the person that was supposed to take care of him as part of her duty had gone to such an extent of inhumanity and forsaken all sense of reason breaking the rules set by Nature and morale.

"I see. Can I go, now?" he asked, as he found the atmosphere suddenly freezing from the arrival of those horrible ghosts of the pasts. The room now seemed as a prison from which he had to escape and to which he'd never return.

"Just rest for a couple of minutes and when you'll feel better I'll release you, okay? I don't want to see you collapse in the doorway" the scientist answered. Her hands were dancing across her computer's keyboard, as she inputted thousands of data into her daily physical report and sent them for further analysis and early diagnosis to the MAGI terminals.

"Okay."

With those last words, the Third Child let his body relax, finding comfort in the softness of the bed, the only source of relief in this cold, dark room and, slowly, as his body relinquished itself to the soothing nature of the piece of furniture, he drifted into the welcoming arms of Morpheus.

Dr. Ritsuko Akagi looked up from her station as she noted that her charge's breathing had slowed to a low but steady one signs of a much-needed and well-deserved sleep. She examined his countenance eyelids shut, lips a little apart, an arm tucked under the neck for more comfort, the other resting on the bed and decided that her patient would be out for at least a half hour if not sixty minutes full. She saved her file not before having it encrypted with a 2048-bit code and opened a new one.

Her eyes narrowed, as she steeled herself for her next task: reporting to the Supreme Commander and inform him of the session's development. She glanced once again at the Third Child's prone form and looked back at the screen, as the marker blinked expectantly, waiting for the words to appear. _It was the last one_, she thought. _The next steps will be more troublesome._ Her hands were then once again put into motion, her fingers roaming around the board at lightning speed, while her eyes never tore themselves off the screen. As she began the arduous task of simplifying and summarize the enormous amount of data into a perfectly flowing and comprehensive overall explanation, her thoughts drifted away.

_Phase Possession is ended, as well as Doctrine the young Ikari seems to have received well the treatment but it's still too early to see if his brain has perfectly memorized the information given through the 'Atropos', 'Clotho' and 'Lachesis' transmission arrays even though it is to be assumed that his weakened mind's state has made things easier. Such a procedure has never been used before. Memory-wiping, yes...but indoctrination and subliminally-induced mind control? We barely have experience in this field and that makes the error margin go higher than expected as well as the probability of accidents triggered by such a treatment. What about the after- and side-effects? Well, we'll have to wait for the next step, I suppose. Phase Golem is about to begin but I don't know what this bastard really wants to do with the boy...even though I know that in the end, it will allow him to be once again reunited with that goddamned wife of his._

Her hands froze into perfect stillness as thoughts of her past sins and those of her mother rose from the dark parts of her mind. The death of the first Shell and _her_ suicide...

_But if that enables him to find his own paradise...what of ours? Will it cast us into hell or will we find happiness?_ She frowned as fears started to creep in her head, all showing her possibilities of an unfolding future. _Will he dare forsake us all in order to be happy? Will he kill us for his sake and the revival of one that has been dead for a decade?_

"Doctor?"

Dr. Ritsuko Akagi nearly gasped as a voice made itself known from her right the bed of the Third Child, who now had left its prone position and adopted a sitting one, obviously eager to leave the place and go back to his apartment. The blond-haired scientist recomposed herself and tried a smile, one that was not lost on her patient.

"Feeling better?"

"...I...I think so. Can I go now?"

"If you really feel okay, yes."

"Thank you...goodbye."

"Goodbye, Shinji."

With that, the fifteen-year old boy walked out of the small lab, leaving the doctor to her own musings, about the future of mankind. As one being left the small room, the darkness seemed to increase, slowly encroaching towards the still figure of Ritsuko Akagi. The phenomenon was not lost on her as she nearly found in it a sign of bad omen. Of dramas to come and pain to deal with.

_Did we doom ourselves for your selfishness, Gendo?_

_Did we become worse than the Angels?_

_Worse than you?_

As she shut down her computer and gathered her few belongings before leaving, too, the area, the doctor looked around her...finding suddenly the air to be thick with apprehension, the feeling of protection suddenly being reaped away by a strong, growing sense of foreboding.

"Phase Golem will begin."

* * *

As he staggered out of the lift towards the monorail's station, the third designated Evangelion pilotfound himself privy to yet another session of intense headache the throbbing in his cranium increasing with every step made towards the concrete-shrouded building. He blinked twice, as his vision slowly started to cloud the sheer effort of his self-imposed fast stride taking its toll on his burdened mind trying to chase away the veil that threatened to mask reality away from his precious orbs. A few moments flew by until the being known as Shinji Ikari finally admitted to himself that he wouldn't make it to the station at that rate, deciding to stop in his tracks and lean for a while on the wall of the gigantic underground hall that lead straight to the platform. He ran a trembling hand over his sweaty forehead, cursing himself for not taking his time to rest in Dr. Akagi's office.

_I should've stayed a little longer down there I'm so damned tired what the hell's going on?_

He took a couple of deep breaths, inciting his own body to reclaim its former inner equilibrium and chase away the tiredness. But the effects that took him over were the exact opposite of what he was expecting, much less hoping for. The pain that drove itself recklessly through his axons surged forward, its intensity rising dramatically, nearly making the boy lose consciousness and collapse on the cold ground. It seemed as if every nerve of his head was on fire and that his body was slowly becoming numb giving him the horrid feeling of having his head severed from the torso and his limbs. His thoughts became erratic as his cerebral activity slowed down to a state near that of delirium. A part of his mind wondered, without much emotion, how could he still be standing in that situation. It was as if his legs had become stone, propping him up on the wall and preventing him from falling.

_Am I crippled? What...what's happening? Why...why..._

And awareness came.

For someone who had been out cold during a few hours, the experience was horrible so terrifying that he nearly doubled over not only in pain but also in horror, as his five senses became incredibly sharper. Wafts of millions of scents, the cool breeze of the air and the feel of the microscopic dust raking on his bare skin, the _tha-thump_ of his madly beating heart, the cacophony of thousands of different sounds ricocheting and booming through the gigantic dome that was the Geofront, the multiple energy waves and other vibrations driven through the ground and the walls, every chemical ingredient of his own saliva and the rest of his previous meal in his mouth...everything was there...as if wanting to make itself known to him, forcing themselves on his mind.

His gaze fell on the floor and fell upon the soles of his shoes. And there, realization fell upon him like the proverbial ton of bricks.

He could see everything...every detail...every crease of the plastic and the layer of synthetic leather even small parts of dirt that he couldn't...no..._shouldn't_ be able to see had he had his normal sight. He could spot the small forms of 'sand' buried in the folds of the fabric strange little orbs of microscopic stone that looked like miniaturized asteroids to the human eye. The laces looked like enormous ropes to him...every imperfection, every little fiber that stood out of that twisted mass of nylon...everything.

His ORANGE eyes widened as he grasped the full meaning of that simple fact.

_It's as if my eyes had become microscopes...WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON?_

Then the image changed as the colors abruptly changed and sort of 'clouds' or little 'mists' started to appear around him. Once again, he was sent reeling back as new perceptions made themselves known to his frazzled brains even his skin started to perceive differently the air around him. He could feel like layers of heat and of cold that washed over him in an ever-increasing pattern, like a diabolic dance that was meant to tease his clueless nerves. Then, as he felt a gust of seemingly hot wind come up from behind him, his vision went into the orange-like and reddish part of the luminous spectrum. It was then that he realized that the lights, the hues he was seeing were 'packs' of heat. He could see the infrared rays.

His mind was sent into utter panic as he tried to understand what was happening but no answer came to him as the throbbing rose to its highest pitch, finally reaping the last ounce of self-consciousness from the terrified pilot. Yet he didn't faint or collapse. He stood straight, as if in trance. His eyes wandered aimlessly, ripping themselves away from the brain's command as his hands began to shake and his body to wrack up in a sickening tremor. His jaws clenched altogether as spasms ran throughout his spine.

Finally, his lips cracked open and a whisper came out...with such vehemence and grim determination and even loathing that it seemed clear that it didn't came directly from the boy but from a conscience beyond him...a second personality that rose from the darkness, unbidden and waiting to finally break its bonds.

_"Ne..."_

Shinji Ikari swallowed with great difficulty and then uttered a single word...one that came out from millennia of years forgotten beyond reckoning and dark times buried through the ashes of time.

_"Nephilim..."_

And he repeated it, over and over, as if something drove that tormented soul to reveal that word to the world...like a dirty secret that should have been admitted a long time ago.

_"Nephilim..."_

And when the strange trance that so suddenly took the Third Child over came to an end the tired, broken pilot would keep no memory of this strange event, his mind having become blank for a couple minutes and unable to memorize anything that would have then happened. Yet, a single witness had been there to keep a record of that curious change of state a little security camera fixed on the ceiling and that swept the corridor keeping track of the child's movements and progression through the Geofront the video feed being directly sent to the Supreme Commander's desk.

Three minutes later, Shinji Ikari left the bowels of NERV for the welcome warmth of a place he called 'home'.

Silence and stillness, once again, reclaimed their throne and reign at the monorail's station.

* * *

"Really, those new antennas ain't worth shit, captain" stated a second-class private as he tried to tune his display's reading by varying pulse frequencies and wavelengths. The officer behind him frowned at the choice of words but said nothing, as he shared with his subordinate the same feelings of frustration and impatience. They had been at work for four hours nonstop and they hadn't seen any progress yet with the new air search radar system.

"Watch your words, soldier."

"Sorry, sir" amended the technician as he brought up a chart with dozens of figures inside it. He quickly scanned a database covered in numbers and statistics and tried to input new settings. "But I still believe that either those technicians from Toshiba have messed up with the arrays or the software between the factory and here or the whole system's completely totaled."

"There were...complications during the delivery, indeed" agreed the captain as he recalled the incident that had nearly cost the lives of two workers. The whole rotating antenna had not been correctly attached the crane's hoist during its installation and had fallen a meter from the ground. The height was small to a man's mind but enough to cause damage to the 1,600 microscopic transmitters that littered the curved surface they were resting on. If there was a crack throughout the entire metallic panel, then it would be more troublesome they would have to ship it back to the factory, X-ray it and, if needed, repair the damages...all of which would take time and a lot of money. They had already spent a very high sum for its installation and the captain didn't want to imagine how much it would cost to remove it from the control tower and then place it back when it would be fixed.

"Were they? That doesn't surprise me."

"Okay, soldier. Carry on, carry on" he grumbled as he went to the next console, where a technician was typing commands into his naval search radar computer. "Nothing special, corporal?"

"No, sir. Apart from those three _Kongo_-class destroyers that are heading for the Spratleys...and that American CVBG that is cruising 200 miles away, for the same destination."

_Ah, yes. The Spratleys_, he thought as he recalled the arising crisis every television channel and radio station had been speaking of for a whole week. The Vietnamese government, backed by the communist hawks from China, had launched during the last few months a large-scale military campaign to drive the Filipino naval forces out of the Spratley Islands, where petrol could be found deep under the seabeds. The Philippines had counterattacked with the help of their Taiwanese allies and had repelled the invaders away for a moment but recent intelligence satellite pictures from the U.N. had shown that Vietnamese reinforcements were en route to seize control of this now submerged archipelago. With the energy crisis still raging throughout the world, such a resourceful area would be critical in reinstating prosperity and solving many problems. As well as give power to those who hunger for it.

"Yeah. Troublesome, indeed. It's already bad that it occurs near us but it's worse that it threatens our supremacy in the Pacific Ocean, knowing that the Yankees have hold of the eastern part."

Japan had forsaken, during the Second Impact, its agreements with the U.S. signed shortly after World War II all in order to deal with the atmosphere of war that was brewing in the pandemonium that was Asia. Countries were collapsing, new governments were arising from the ashes of fallen ones, revolutions were spreading like wildfire...Japan could no longer ignore it and lost its status of normally neutral country and becoming once again the military-loving nation it once was, sending troops all over Asia to contain the trouble that took gigantic dimensions. This decision to rearm itself at high scale and make its armies an expeditionary-capable had drawn from the U.N. great cries of indignation and worry, as nobody had forgotten the lessons of 1945 especially the U.S. who still kept at mind the tragedy of Pearl Harbor. There was also the fact that the White House feared to lose control on the Pacific but it was overshadowed by the fact that many countries did not hesitate, after the balance of power had been disturbed, to gain weapons of mass destruction (WMD) like the thermonuclear or hydrogen bomb and then the N². That had gotten worse with the nuclear bombing of the old Tokyo, Nara and Yokosuka cities.

Captain Eiji Tonomura took a moment to look around, taking in his surroundings. The radar control room was a true jewel of high technology as well as one of organization. It had taken millions of dollars just to design the whole complex and even more to create the equipment and customize it for NERV's and JSSDF's needs. One wanted long-range surveillance and early detection and the other constant monitoring of close to medium range contacts, the two philosophies creating a contradiction that had given weeks of nightmares and headaches for the multiple contractors and manufacturers. Even the American Cray company had been called in for the project, providing in the end a decade-old but highly trustworthy X1 supercomputer to process every bit of data reaped from the multiple antenna arrays set all around Mount Fuji's flanks. The complex itself had been built one thousand five hundred meters above sea level on the southern slope of the silent volcano, which now sported a summit devoid of snow, an aftereffect of Second Impact and temperature rising. More than two thousands employees worked 24/7 inside the Mt-F base, half of them belonging to the UN-owned institution and dedicated to locate and track incoming Angels. A second complex was situated on the other side of the three thousand meter-high mount, this one belonging to the SETI organization, which had partially reconverted itself into a meteorite-tracking office. Of course, most of its collected data was shared with its two counterparts in exchange of lower leasing prices, protection and other minor favors.

"What about the elephant cage?" Tonomura asked an operator who was manning the SIGINT desk.

The 'elephant cage' was an impressive cylindrical signals-gathering antenna array, which indeed looked like a gigantic cage for animals of great dimensions. Derived from the pre-Second Impact American AN/FLR-9 system, the AN/FLR-44 'cage' was made of two circular fences that served as antennae, each of the two receiving different parts of the HF spectrum. The inner ring was 245 meters in diameter, with at least sixty folded dipolesthat monitored long wavelengths transmissions whilst the outer one, with a diameter of 273 meters and 150 sleeve monopoles, was used to collect shorter HF wavelengths signals. Each dipole, in fact, could be considered as a sole antenna and could, with extreme accuracy, give a precise azimuth of an intercepted signal's transmitter. A single one of those enormous beams of metal would only give a bearing but when all of them were used, a lot of data could be gathered. The system's operators would then only have to draw on a map all azimuths and see where their point of intersection was thus pinpointing the exact location of the transmitter. The AN/FLR-44, which had been designed two or three years ago, had been built with commercial, off-the-shelf technology which seemed to evolve faster than that created by military-oriented industries. The main task of the AN/FLR-44 whose plans were borrowed from the U.S. was to gather electronic intelligence material in the form of radio or even radar transmissions, all of which would be sent to a small station buried deep under the Mt Fuji base for analysis, deciphering and classification. The final data would then be relayed to various agencies or organizations, among them the JSSDF and the Koan Chosa Kyoku (KCK), Japan's equivalent of the CIA and the Secret Service. It had taken two years to build the system and two billion dollars just to build the Intelligence section of the complex but it had been worth the trouble for the three FLR-9 antennae set in Misawa Air Base were slowly ending their career life and the need of something newer and much better was slowly making itself known.

"Nothing there, sir" answered a civilian technician. The INTEL and SIGINT crew was a mix of military officers and employees from the electronic systems' contractors, who found an agreement with the Japanese Government, who found it less expensive to hire already seasoned and experienced people instead of recruiting and training new ones. The mingling often caused problems among the hierarchy because of either responsibilities, confidentiality issuesor security protocols. Distrust was oft to be found in the higher circles of the command staff but the lower workers tended to have less enmity towards their counterparts because their assignments were less important than their higher-ranking superiors. "A lot of signals from Russia and China, mostly HF and UHF but nothing important just the routine chatter."

"I see. Nothing abnormal in the pattern?"

"No, sir. No increase in the amount of data collected. They seem to respect a lot their timetable for their daily reports. By the way, it's rather hard to believe that there's trouble currently brewing in the Spratleys" chuckled a KCK corporal as he fidgeted with his earplugs. "They must really be confident, this time."

"Yeah" agreed someone on his right. "But from what I heard in the mess, they are even doing night missions something they never do because they aren't comfortable with it. Just the opposite of the Westerners they abso-_bloody_-lutely _love_ to fight and lurk in the dark. The Chinks (**NOTE: this is the character's point of view, not the author's who feels no animosity, grudge or dislike towards the Chinese - for more references, check up chapter one's disclaimer.) **don't, mainly for practical reasons."

"I see," remarked Tonomura. He took care to pay attention during those little talks in the control room, when everyone got a little relaxed around a subject or another. Officers sometimes had the opportunity to find out a fact that they weren't aware of or informed about and not only from their own division or section but from the whole business area. When men of their trade discussed around a table and mugs of coffee, no one cared for the truth but just good stories or little facts to trade. A fact Tonomura knew and took advantage over. "Very unusual, did you say?"

"Yes" replied the same Toshiba engineer. "I may be new in the bridge, captain, but I do get around to know this world better" he went on with a small smile. "First rule for me. When you're transferred to a place you know nothing of, first thing to do is to roam around, talk to people, even if it's around a bottle of sake. You'll get to know the surroundings and your job better than reading five hundred pages of bureau_crap_ pardon the pun" he amended, seeing the stern look he got from Tonomura. "Anyway...the Chinks have been buying a lot these last years a risky gamble, if you ask me you don't start throwing your money out of your window when you've got so few in your pocket and even less coming in. They purchased a lot of antisubmarine helicopters from the European Eurospatiale company the Americans got pretty miffed, that is so that the European Economic Community would lift up the ban on the arms sales and allow them to buy much more sophisticated systems. I've got a couple of friends in Mitsubishi who are not very happy about this because that means they won't get a wage rise anytime soon."

"European weapons, you said?"

"Yeah, choppers but a few other things too. They already got drafts of contracts with Heckler&Koch for a manufacturing license that's the Chinese alright don't buy but build it yourself, even if it means stealing the plans from another country. Feed on your own money and don't give it to the foreigners, keep it inside the country. I don't know how many thousands of computers they built behind Dell's and Packard-Bell's backs, making them loose a couple million dollars in the process...they still give the Yanks the cold shoulder because everyone knows that they won't allow them to regain their old 'Asia's most powerful nation' status and thus permit the ban to be dropped off and since the U.S. have got no business in the area when it comes to military technology, it's no big loss for them, at least if Beijing does not decide to turn down a couple of big contracts from U.S. companies like American Express or McDonald's, in retaliation..." he snorted then went on, becoming more and more interested in his story than in the strange HF readings his console gave him. The electromagnetic chart wavered for a moment then returned to its previous state and the phenomenon repeated itself for the few next minutes, each time doubling in intensity.

Behind the console, a technician talked...oblivious to the world and the drama that would soon unfold...

_

* * *

_

_What's wrong with me?_ he asked to himself as the apartment complex came into his line of sight.

_I feel like a goddamn light switch, like...I'm flickering or something like that._ He couldn't pinpoint exactly the feelings that stirred inside his body as they were so vague but no enough to remain and go unnoticed. His senses seemed to change their judgment every now and then as if debating whether it was cold or hot, rough or smooth and so on. _Must be the tiredness...yeah...it must be it...I'm going nuts, _he sighed. _Next thing I'm doing is plopping down on my bed and sleep for three days straight. I don't care if the teacher marks me as 'absent' as long as he doesn't come to wake me up mind you, it wouldn't be bad, it would then give me the chance to fall asleep at school during his so-called Second Impact history lessons..._he chuckled at that. _Man, I must be REALLY tired if I start considering that course of action. Ridiculous, that is...yeah..._

He grunted as his back seemed to tingle as if invisible hands had started to tickle it. _Yeah, now my back's starting to act funny. Cower, pitiful humans! Doomsday is at hand! The world is going crazy and I'm next on the list!_

He was so plunged in the depths of his thoughts that he didn't notice, behind him, an equally tormented but in an other way individual, that quietly made his way towards the building...or rather followed the young Shinji Ikari, as he tried to get back to the apartment without collapsing on the sidewalk from exhaustion. Crimson eyes hidden behind pangs of azure hair trailed over his bent form, as if tearing through him, dissecting him alive and trying to find what flowed through him and made him this way. For such was the nature of the First Child. Born clueless and completely without feeling about the outside world, the being Rei Ayanami knew but little things if not nothing about normal people the traditions, the themes of life, society, the complexity of the human nature, feelings everything had been alienated from her from the start. It wasn't then surprising if she was puzzled with the strangeness of normal life a discomfort and ignorance that had grown deeper as she met more and more people and was told 'that she wasn't like the others'.

Unalike.

Strange.

Creepy.

Inhuman.

The last word did not anger her for she knew nothing of the boundaries and laws that defined the shadowy notion of humanity. Most people, when asked what was a human being, couldn't bring her an answer...either as if embarrassed, puzzled or simply didn't know what to say...but Rei Ayanami didn't know whether, for that last part, if it was because they knew very little about it or had too much answers to give. Either case...it had not helped her comprehend better life as a person.

As a human being.

The ignorance induced by Commander Ikari was something very risky for it was evident that it would bring a lot of interrogations when she would be confronted to the world around her. He had often, in the privacy of his office, mentioned Plato's 'myth of the cavern', a metaphor he judged very interesting if not very fitting. In the philosopher's tale, people were being bound to a sort of rocky 'hedge' facing the far wall of the cave and remained so since their childhood, never being able to see anything else than that flat, spotless face of rock, and to crane their neck aside to see what else had to be seen. Behind them, individuals waved puppets and other signs above their head, as a fire lit at the entrance of the chamber sent shadows to wash over the wall. The prisoners would not then be able to see the puppeteers' shadows because of the low wall, but only that of the objects held high above them. In essence, the games of light and darkness had created a world of illusion that the bound persons had, as they grew up in such an environment, taking itas their OWN reality. But, had asked Plato, what happened when one of these unfortunate people was freed from this hell and sent outside, to behold the marvels and horrors of the true world? He would, at first, go mad, and then try to understand what was happening...then cope to live with it. But if he went back in the cavern to tell the tale true to his comrades of imprisonment...he would be held as a liar if not a madman...and then be killed because of his dangerousness. Rei was like that. She had been subjected to a form of reality...where only Gendo Ikari, the Evas, NERV and the Angels were the only things relevant and worth consideration. But as she was released, the width of the possibilities encountered around her and the innumerable aspects of life came crashing down on her bringing interrogations that slowly freed her from her illusions. Not entirely because she had not the needed 'luggage' in her head to understand everything around her...but enough to make her want to be something else. To be become human.

_Pilot Ikari seems strange, these days. He's always tired when he comes back from his sessions with Dr. Akagi. Is that a good sign? I have never felt or endured such exhaustion as Ikari seems to be suffering of. I wonder what he is thinking at the moment he shows clear signs of unrest and instability. He doesn't even seem aware of his surroundings I assume his attention is somewhere else._

Indeed, a dozen meters in front of her, her teammate seemed to have relinquished himself to a sort of daze letting his feet and instincts drag him back to his long-time shelter. Shoulders hunched, head hung low, he looked like an icon of exhaustion and suffering, like a martyr who was bearing his cross towards his own Mount Golgotha towards his fate. _I wonder why Pilot Ikari still keeps on piloting or just staying in NERV after all, he already quit twice and both times because he was hurt. He still gets hurt yet he goes on with his duties without complaining anymore. Why the sudden change of character, though? And why do I care so much about his well-being? Why do I care?_

The void of her soul gave her no answer the disembodied voice that had talked to her having, surprisingly, gone silent as abruptly as it had made itself known to her. Even though she didn't like its harshness and its bluntness, she believed that she could find from it many more answers to her own interrogations that she could ever get from other individuals, including Major Katsuragi, Commander Ikari and Pilot Ikari. Pilot Soryu didn't really care for her even though she had somewhat but not considerably warmed up to her and accepted her behavior to a certain extent, yet it didn't prevent her from sometimes giving out some cold comments about her free will.

_Does Pilot Soryu not care for me because of her past or because she disagrees with me on certain issues?_ she pondered. _Many people say that we are unalike. Is that good for us...for me? Or is it something to dread?_

Then, as she was about to form a new question in her puzzled mind, a strange sense of foreboding washed over her, sending shivers throughout her spine causing her to abruptly stop in her tracks and her eyes to widen. At the corners of her soul, she could sense it: a faint call, one that seemed so primal she could barely identify it as a living being's. One that had not been heard for millennia. She could hear them now...voices that rose from the silence, as an unearthly choir, whose laments seemed to reach out for someone or something, begging, longing for something they had lost or they were seeking for. The sound in her head rose to a high pitch as if awaiting an apotheosis of sorts.

Resignation and dread replaced foreboding as she realized what that meant. She frowned for a moment then muttered...

_"He's coming."_

When she raised her head and set her gaze on the horizon she couldn't help but notice that the Third Child had also stopped in his clumsy walk. His stiff figure suddenly seeming more alert than ever and his head whipping around, as if trying to localize something.

_No...it can't be possible...Ikari couldn't have heard them, too._..

_Could he?_

Two minutes later, their cell phones chirped loudly, the LCD screens displaying a priority one call from NERV headquarters and their ringing sounding to both Children like a symphony of doom or a premature requiem.

The notes being tales of sorrow and pain.

Tokyo-03 was awaiting a potential Angel.

* * *

Two minutes ago...

"Really, Shigeru, you should _know_ that command won't appreciate it if you keep on doing it, they'll fine you or even take the money out of your wage!"

"But I need it, damn it! You know that's the only thing that I..." grumbled the long-haired technician as he glanced behind him, throwing a dark look at officer Makoto Hyuga who frowned at his stubbornness.

"But still! Do YOU want the bastard down on our necks?" the bespectacled young man growled.

"Hell NO!" exclaimed Aoba with a look of indignation as he looked back at the tower behind him, making sure that neither the Supreme Commander nor his second in command was there to witness that blatant infraction of security rules in the bridge. "Who among us wants it?" he retorted.

"What are you two talking about?" asked a bemused Maya Ibuki, as she peered over their shoulders, intrigued by their curious behavior. The way her two colleagues talked bode no good as did the pair's reaction jumping nearly to their feet as the quiet voice of the E-project deputy chairman made itself known over their own chatter.

"DAMN! Don't you creep on us like that, Maya! You might kill us from heart attack before an Angel does!" snarled a shaken Aoba, who had completely forgotten about the third wheel of the 'Bridge Bunnies' trio and did not expect her to barge in their private discussion like this. As she scowled over his answer, he grumbled in annoyance and moved over, showing her a half-empty can of Coke.

"Aoba..." she sighed tiredly. "How many times must we tell you that no beverage is allowed on the bridge, especially those with sugar inside?"

"What about the coffee, then?" he retorted, as he tried to defend his addiction to the sweet drink.

"We don't put sugar in it and you know it you also know that Coke is more acidic than coffee and is more corrosive if you spill it over your keypad..."

"I know, I know!" he answered, dismissing the small speech, as he already knew the risks of such an accident removal from active duty, heavy fine, loss of current rank, maybe even a trial for criminal negligence and disregard of security rules...the list was endless. "I take my precautions, okay? I don't want to get dragged in some god-forsaken mess and I'm doing everything possible in Heaven, Earth or Hell to not get into trouble and you know it, Maya!"

"Yeah, whatever" she answered, conceding defeat. She couldn't remember how many times she had tried to make him lose this dangerous habit of drinking sweet drinks on the bridge spilling it over the control pads could cause important short-circuits, even electrical arcs that could end up deadly for the nearby crew, loss of data and corruption of memory systems if not complete crippling of the entire MAGI system. He knew that busting a single command console could send erratic or wrong orders down to the three nodes MELCHIOR, BALTHAZAR and CASPER and initiate a much greater trouble than first thought erase tons of precious digitized information...even order the automated self-destruction of the whole Geofront compound...such a negligence was deemed unforgivable as the consequences could be dramatic, in both senses. "At least I don't drink beer in here!"

At that, both technicians had but the choice left to sigh and concede the point implicitly recognizing that the behavior of their Operations Commander was no less better if not more dangerous. Inebriety was even judged criminal inside the Geofront compound as it could lead to life-endangering situations. It was even unforgivable if the one caught in such a state was a high-ranking officer. And if it was under the Commanders' noses...God only knew what would happen. Leave it to the imagination of the world's best (or worst) novelists, some used to say. "Aoba, really...we're not talking about her, but you! If you want her to stop, tell her yourself...if you've got the balls to do it...even though I won't guarantee your safety afterwards" muttered a disgruntled Hyuga. The thought nearly made the dark-haired lieutenant go pale as a ghost, as he considered walking up to the purple-haired NERV goddess and order her to stop ingurgitation her self-proclaimed life-source...he preferred to be hit in the face by an high-explosive artillery shell fired point-blank. "No thanks. I think I'll pass..."

"Unless you want the Commanders to find out..."

"What? You gone nuts, Maya?"

Hyuga sighed once more as the bicker took place again in the bridge. He threw his arms in the air as a clear sign of resignation and went back to his place, in the middle of the command post. As he shook his head in misery, he gathered up his papers and other official forms and tried to make a little order. As it was the end of the month he had to write a lot of reports and other documents that were dubbed 'highly important' or 'critical' but that in fact weren't really as important as they were officially deemed. It just went part with the job. _And to think_, he mused, _I came here because I thought the military would offer an exciting modus vivendi. What a laugh._ He removed two leather-encased folders from his desk and as he turned to his left to put them in his case, he noticed a light blinking on his small LCD screen.

_What the hell is that again? A new bug?_

The MAGI was an extraordinary sophisticated supercomputer its complexity increased by the fact that it had three major decision sources the nodes known as CASPER, BALTHAZAR and MELCHIOR and that used a new quantum physics and mathematics-based processing and command language, something much more difficult and elaborate than the old Linux and Unix of the twentieth century. It didn't even use the ASCII code that became standard during the eighties and nineties...it was much more advanced than that and the technicians that manned the input/output command posts had to intensively train during two full years before being really familiar with it...that is, if they actually got the chance to ever approach that field, as NERV kept a narrowed eye on those who wanted to join the programmers' teams. He scooted forward, trying to see what new problem had befallen on him and blinked.

_EM chart? What in the blazes is that?_

All around Japan and even in space were thousands if not millions of sensors that monitored many aspects of the universe's physical realm infrared, radar, sound, electromagnetic, high, low and medium frequencies. Satellite-mounted, airborne or ground-based, they literally covered millions of square miles and fed NERV HQ and its secondary stations with billions of data bits per millisecond a tremendous feat that took insanely high amounts of money but which finally paid off as everyone, JSSDF included found in the surveillance system a true information goldmine geographical mapping, scientific charts, real-time military intelligence...it was even said that Japan could even be informed of every mosquito copulation event in the whole country because of the network thoroughness, precision and sophistication. Forty-eight video, radar and signals interception satellites were hovering high above the atmosphere, scanning the surface beneath for any sign of inconspicuous physical change that might be a side-effect of an Angel's approach.

Which was the primary task of the SERAPHIM system search for the monsters that had become Mankind's worst nightmare.

Nobody knew exactly the nature of the Angels such information were just meant for the eyes of a few select individuals, of which only a small, tight group of three were currently in NERV: the Supreme and the Vice-Commander, along with Dr. Ritsuko Akagi but what had to become the biological criteria to call them as such was widely known: an enormous life form, with a decidedly intelligent mind and belligerent attitude, composed of matter that has both particulate _and_ waveform properties something technically impossible and wanting to bring an end to Mankind's history by initiating what would be called Third Impact. The technology and methods used to detect those monsters was actually a mix of many others, which ranged from satellites to seismic vibration sensors, and simple visual analysis to electromagnetic signature detection and spectrograph scans all of which created pre-programmed patterns that were known by color names. The Angels were dubbed 'blue' even though the word also referred to the tint of their blood. Hyuga peered over the six LCD screens and tried to figure out what was happening and why whatever it was had triggered some alarms in the SERAPHIM warning system. There were six early warning statuses, that were classed according to the amount, gravity and nature of the detection parameters EM, IR, radar, optronic identification and so on...if the detection readings reached a certain point beyond the certainty (or confirmation) threshold, the MAGI automatically raised the readiness and defense status of the whole organization and sent a FLASH message straight to the JSSDF and the UN troops stationed at Port Sasebo, as well as the Yokota and Kadena Air Force Bases. And, as the amount of those reached parameters rose, so did the alert status (that was also called DEFCON for _defensiveness condition_). L-Eight meant 'routine'. L-One meant 'incoming doom'.

_L-Three? What the hell?_

He looked over and saw a representation of the ambient electromagnetic spectrum, provided by six ex-American RHYOLITE satellites as well as a few governmental units that were both leased to the military and the civilian market, and started. He could see the graph distort every know and then, and glanced towards a small window that had opened at the lower left edge of the screen. It was a replay of the last minute's AC recording and it showed the changes of the EM environment at a very slow pace. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The whole picture seemed to flash every three seconds, like a heartbeat.

_A pulse pattern? What the hell is that?_

_A six hundred hertz modulated pulse? With that amplitude?_

He then bent over, entered some commands in the TERASYS-4 console and double-checked the readings. Once again, the MAGI came back with the same results. He stayed there transfixed for a couple of seconds then turned back. "Guys...? I think you should look at this..." he said, quirking his eyebrow in a worried manner. In their job, little things of details were often the beginning of great problems. And this time was no exception to that rule.

He was just finishing uttering his sentence when every screen and system in the bridge went haywire most of them malfunctioning or purely shutting down even a couple of the overhead lighting flickered or just shut off, sending the whole room in a semi-darkness. The great three-dimensional holographic representation of Tokyo-03's surroundings that hovered in mid-air before the command tower even dimmed instead of brightening. Then the panic spread among the startled technicians.

Chaos had just made its first move.

* * *

"They want to create rifles the G36, I think. Since the Americans got the M8 a great improvement of the G36, mind you and they don't want to have the same rifle as them and look like technological retards, they turned back to the old G36. Quite a shame, since the Yankees are fielding more and more of their OICW rifle quite a blaster, this one, I tell you. But I think that they're also laying their eyes on the Belgian F2000 but the ban must be lifted before going there Belgium is still the capital of Europe so they will wait for the EEC's decision to cut the tape before finally selling them some. They love to maintain their pro-Europe look and come out as the 'good, wise guys'."

He was about to go on about European politics when a loud-pitched wail came out from the speakers behind him, startling him and the whole crew around him. As the bewildered technician turned back to his station, the liquid crystal displays of the AN/FLR-44 started to blink at an alarming rate creating an eerie atmosphere that bode no good. Captain Tonomura then found himself running towards the command consoles, trying to know more about the source of this sudden disturbance. All around him operators and other officers were shouting reports at each other, in an attempt to update their multiple superiors and shift supervisors about the situation. Over the blaring sound of the alert sirens, the intelligence officers caught a few announcements.

"The EM chart is off the scale..."

"The fourth satellite dish is not answering anymore..."

"...Communication has been broken..."

"...What about the cage? Try to..."

"...I've lost track of the _Tokugawa_..."

"...Fourth channel does not answer..."

"...Indicate massive overload..."

Eiji Tonomura whirled around, as he heard some terms that reminded him of some courses he took at the JSSDF military academy, about special operations tactics, mostly that of the Air Force. He turned back to the technician in front of him and pointed him the blinking monitor.

"What the hell is that? What's going on?"

The civilian tore his gaze from the rectangle of light and allowed himself to meet his superior's gaze with a worried look. "I don't know! There's been a massive energy spike registered here on the recorder the activity has gone off the scale!" With that, he turned back to his work, feverishly punching commands into the console, trying to get back multiple systems online. The frenzy around them went on, unabated, as more and more reports came flying from other operators' mouths, bringing more and more news of ill-biding events and information.

"Misawa Station UHF comm. channel is off-line but land lines are still functioning. We should be switching to them anytime soon..."

"...We have to reboot some of the computers...seems that some of them have crashed..."

"...Maintenance reports that the antennas in area six, grid alpha three - golf eight, are FRIED..."

"...We've lost contact with the _Hiryu_ satellite, sir. She's no more responding. We'll try with the American AFSATCOM, but..."

"New Yokosuka reports problems, too...but it seems that they're in the shitter, too. They're talking about their automated railway routing system being down..."

"...There too? Tokyo-02's television channels are down...we'll have to wait for Tokyo-03's status to see if there's a pattern..."

"...We're getting word from Sydney, too..."

"...What? THAT far?"

"...We're getting the first analysis results from the STELLAR computer, sir...we should be...ah, there it is..."

Eiji Tonomura ran towards the technician that had bellowed that last part of information, as other colleagues followed him suit, all gathering behind the seat of the DEFCON desk. The technician opened a series of windows on his screen and scrolled down, reading aloud for all to hear. _"...Recording of a surge of energy in the electromagnetic field during 7.68 milliseconds, its maximal amplitude being, according to first analysis, over 75 kV/m..._good lord_...all data point to a electromagnetic pulse (EMP) of high intensity."_ That last sentence brought pandemonium into the small room as people gauged the received information. Eiji Tonomura didn't have to be a physicist to know what that implied. EMP were extremely rare when they were naturally caused. In fact, nearly non-existent, especially if it were of this amplitude and power. The U.S. among other nations like the late USSR, had developed during the last decennia of the twentieth century, weapons that would emit a very brief but impossibly powerful EMP grilling every piece of electronic equipment in immediate proximity in other words incapacitating the whole technology realm targeted by the warhead. The high-voltage surge would shut down everything: computers, telephone, even microwave grills everything that used integrated circuits or microchips. During the Cold War, if such an attack had been carried out, the whole nation would have been crippled the telephone lines being so primitive in that part of the world that it was so easy to render them useless. Even underground installations weren't shielded from the pulse and what was most ironic was the fact that the weapon that would cause so much harm in a material way spared human lives it wasn't even lethal. But Eiji Tonomura thought naught about this. EMP was also an aftereffect or more exactly a side-effect of a greater, more terrible event that still chilled the blood of countless people who had still in their minds the reminder of the post-Second Impact wars. A nuclear detonation.

"Good lord...if it's a bomb..." breathed a major as he scanned the contents of the report.

"This would be a fucking declaration of war..."

"Yeah, and what of the radioactive fallout..."

"Is it thermonuclear or a H bomb? If it's a damn H, that means that..."

"But it's impossible! There weren't signs of..."

"Hold on!" said the DEFCON desk technician as he scrolled downwards. "There's more..."

Everyone huddled closer at the sound of more data for their ears hungry of news. The tension was palpable in the room as many nearly had the impression that the man's next words would hold the key to their destiny or for the events to come. How right they were...

_"...First reports from the YAMATO intelligence gathering network (cf. file 302900457 - code "PARADISE" -) indicate that the point of detonation if the cause is listed as 'nuclear bombing' (see data below)is less than two hundred (200) miles south of the Kyushu Islands (cf. map 0014 grid E1, C4 standard issue), azimuth 183 from Kagoshima Station (CS 'ONI'), the distance margin being between 250 and 150. Further precision could be given after analysis of the 'anomaly's' characteristics (power, size, location). Its estimated point of detonation is supposed to be between forty and fifty thousand meters (40,000 50,000m) above sea level (speculation) the optimal detonation point for nuclear weapons according to Western strategic doctrine for atomic bombing (cf. files 295140822 - code 'GROOVE' - and 224825367 - code 'HORNET')_

"Fucking lord...that's it...we've got a..."

"Shut the fuck up and let the guy talk!"

_"However, the NARA DSP satellites (id. 0045-DSP-045E and 0046-DSP-094A) did not record any signs of double light flash, a sign of nuclear explosion, neither did it see any radical changes in the infrared spectrum that could support the early assumption of WMD attack."_

Sighs were soon to be heard in the TRANS room, but they did not last long for the technician went on with his newfound task of announcing the news to his colleagues.

_"The temporary conclusion is that the cause of the anomaly is of electromagnetic nature but the pattern doesn't concord with that of a classic EMP weapon (cf. files 000120706, app. A41, al. 02 and 000120809, app. F32, al. 01) as it shows modularity of the energy surge and signs of harmonics that are consistent with more organic patterns (cf. file 100475886, app. D45, al. 45). The final diagnosis is inconclusive and pending orders of furthering or deepening."_

"Not an EMP weapon?" breathed an incredulous major. "But what is it, then?"

"That's official, our electronic systems have gone bonkers on us..." muttered another.

"Organic pattern? What the hell is that?"

Three hundred miles south, the seas were once again sundered as a mass of several million tons rose from the deep...sending equal volumes of water into the skies in a mockery of a typhoon...a pathway between the heavens and earth...made of the very primordial source of life.

And as the thundering receded, a single sound took over and tore the air...

...The roar of a beast longing for destruction and demise.

* * *

Meanwhile, at NERV HQ, other conversations were being held.

"Mt. Fuji confirms it, then?"

Makoto Hyuga listened to his interlocutor at the end of the line before asking another question.

"Misawa, Kagoshima and Matsushiro stations, too...mmmh...same conclusions than the ones we sent you by LANDCOM, do you concur?"

Shigeru Aoba, on the other hand, was also talking to another officer on the phone, trying, too, to get more information about the strange phenomenon that had ruined the peaceful atmosphere of that seemingly calm afternoon.

"What of the JSSDF's SOSUS? Yes, the seabed-fixed hydrophone network...no reverberation...offline too? What happened?"

High above the bridge, looking over the gigantic holographic display in front of him, Sub-Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki cannot but help a small sigh from escaping his lips...the weight of the years suddenly more heavier on his shoulders. _More bad news...and still out in the dark_. He then glanced at the composed, seated figure of Commander Gendo Ikari, who had once again assumed his trademark pose: elbows on the desk, hands joined together under his nose and hiding the lower part of his face and the coldness irradiating from every atom of his body. _Well, maybe not everyone. After all, he still hides some things from me...Sub-Commander or not._

"Underwater blast, you say? Could it be a nuclear depth charge...? Or one of those N² mines forgotten since the end of the war...?...No? But...what?" Aoba frowned as the man at the other end of the line gave him some more news. "Electromagnetic pulse? But that means...ah...huh? EVERYTHING's offline? Everything? But that's impossible! Water is a natural barrier against radio emissions or any other type of electromagnetic wave apart from extremely low frequency transmissions so how come...wh...no...I see...well...are you sure they...they're intact? But...yeah, the EMP, okay...okay...fries the chips but lets everything intact...I got the picture...an overload, you say...mmmh...still, have you got any other leads?"

On a second hand, Maya was also dealing with dreadful news and had a hard time keeping up with the rapidly-incoming updates. Even her skills at keying (or typing, for those who prefer that verb) couldn't help her in writing notes about what had befallen on the world around them. "I see...transportation level is nil at the moment...trains too? ...Of course, they are automated so...yes, I see...but the highways and other...ah, okay, at least some good news...we're lucky they still use wires instead of radio command systems...yes...indeed...what? Oh, good lord...eight aircrafts gone missing? ...Dear God...you've already found two of them? Where? Toyama and Iwakuni...but those are cities! Don't tell me they've...ah...phew...you gave me a scare...oh, you're still updating...you...you mean there must be more than eight? Maybe fifteen? Lord..."

"This is it, Ikari. Isn't it," Fuyutsuki calmly asked his former student and now superior.

"They've finally heard the call," came the simple answer.

"The call."

"HE is calling them back. He must have done so a couple of times since the last month..."

Fuyutsuki turned sharply at that last sentence, his eyes narrowing as he took the hidden meaning and implications in.

"You mean..._him_?"

"Yes, _him_...and _them_...they've heard him, too. And they want to make the hands of time spin faster. So they join in."

"That doesn't make sense, Ikari. That's pure madness!" he retorted.

"Not with the final outcome, old man. Then know what they're gambling and that's there no other way 'round."

"But Lilith and Adam..."

"They too...the gates of Fate are open..." answered Gendo Ikari.

"Dear God," breathed the gray-haired scientist as he turned back to the holographic screen, squinting in order to find the object of his fears.

"The first of the last is coming. He's answered the call."

* * *

The sun was rising at New Yokosuka when the _Globtik Endeavor_ supertanker made its final approach towards the one-kilometer long pier. Its 390,000-horsepower turbines had stopped functioning a while a go, letting the ship go onits path, thrust by the sheer force of its own momentum. Two small pump-jets had then been deployed from under the hull and switched on an alternate source of power - two smaller generators that were solely used when docking or moving the ship around with high precision. The 350,000 tons of crude oil and liquid gas that were stored under high pressure in high capacity tanks were justification enough for such measures. The _Globtik Endeavor_ was, in essence, a floating bomb that just waited for a single, innocent spark to detonate and wipe out everything that stood in its path. Yet that occurrence was theoretically impossible at that moment, as the gigantic containment areas were sealed shut and shielded from the threats of the outside worlds by two hulls, both separated by a thick ring of liquid inert gas, that also helped reduce the draught and keep the deck sufficiently above the sea level to move around without problem.

The _Globtik Endeavor_ was nearly the size of a modern aircraft carrier: three hundred meters long with a width of sixty meters and a height of fifty-eight and a draught of twelve...enough to dwarf the roll-on roll-off cargos that cruised all the way between South Korea and New Yokosuka on a daily basis. The _Big Gee_, as its crew loved to nickname it, was owned by a powerful consortium of fuel companies that managed to survive the evils of Second Impact most of them having invested enough in the Middle East to not worry about bankruptcy for a long time since most oil fields in that region were untouched by the following wars and economical crashes that then shook the world. The International Petroleum Exploitation Partners (IPEP) had thereafter lived its hour of financial glory as countries soon found about their own hunger of gas and the vital need of hydrocarbon products and other resources to initiate their own rebuilding process. IPEP had then begun to gain billion after billion of dollars, becoming by the way one of the world's most powerful center of power important enough to sway great countries' decisions and tilt them in their own favor. Supertankers were built at an impressive rate at the curb of economic demand dramatically skyrocketed most countries didn't mind, by the way, as increased shipbuilding activity helped reduce the number of workless people and helped money to flow anew in the society. The _Globtik Endeavor _was one of those 'economy ships' as they were christened for a time.

On the command bridge, a dozen officers were going through their list of last preparations and check-ups, for a docking was a very delicate task, especially for a ship of this type. A couple of them were equipped with binoculars, scanning the horizon and the immediate surroundings for floating reefs, obstacles, small ships or objects that could hinder their final approach to the pier. The tension was greater than before since yesterday's strange occurrence something that had caused many electronic system to either fail, shut down, grill or flicker...as if something had tampered them with or prevented them from working properly. The GPS was even rendered useless but the tanker's radio systems were, thankfully, stored in a special room that was covered in polymers and amagnetic metal coating...preventing thus strong EM emissions from disabling the microchips inside a lesson learnt very early in the 2000-2010 decennia, when EMP weapons were used in Europe and northern Africa to send the local countries into utter panic and absence of coordination.

That precaution which surprisingly had survived the Second Impact due to extremely unstable countries that were one day at peace the other at war had proven to be lifesaving for the _Big Gee_, as it had permitted them to cover that hundred miles of cruise left. It was also quite miraculous for them that the internal architecture of the tanker was extremely complex for safety reasons the many intertwining corridors, the double hull and amagnetic material having weakened a serious lot the full brunt of the EMP wave but that hadn't spared the installations that sticking out of the superstructure the antennae mast and the navigation radar arrays having been literally fried by the phenomena. The _Big Gee_ was currently sailing through the eyes of the bridge crew, some help from the port's tugs and simple calculations made with a good pencil and a paper. The old methods were sometimes the best, especially in situation of emergency, many said. How true it was.

Captain Toru Nakajima was a man of his trade, having passed more than half his life traveling around the world on many boats, the last of which was a Ro-Ro cargo that linked Kiel (or what remained of it) and Singapore, becoming one of the most experienced merchant marine officers of Asia. What most people didn't know was that many Asians chose the harsh and difficult job of sailor and gained throughout decennia of hard work and suffering. Filipinos were especially known for that. In fact, half his crew came from the Philippines but as it changed each month it was hard to keep track of the new faces but the ethnical and nationality proportions were still the same.

"Depth?"

"Sonar puts it at fifteen meters, rising one foot every hundred meters. We're in the safety margin."

The small sound navigation and ranging (SONAR) device placed in the bulbous bow of the prow constantly scanned the bottom of the sea to prevent the ship from scuttling or encountering a rocky peak in shallow waters. The extremely high-frequency _pings_ could be hardly heard as lessons learnt from the endless conflicts in northern Europe had shown that even civilian ships were not safe from roving submarines as they usually sent torpedoes against any acoustic contact that wasn't registered to their 'ears' as allies. And sonars were a dead giveaway to those hunters of the deep. And for designers and shipbuilders, hard-learnt habits died hard.

"Very well, slow us one third."

"Down one third!" was relayed the order to the helmsman.

"Two degrees port...no, make that three."

"Three degrees port!"

"Aye."

"Darn', captain, look at that, starboard," said a navigation officer, pointing to his right his finger directly drawn at a sight that made most of the bridge crew shiver in horror. Two ships both cargoes laden with layers of high-capacity containers, had collided with each other, one of the two having embedded its prow inside in the hull of the second, nearly cutting it in two. They could see the distorted metal, that had ruptured in many points, leaving some wide gaping holes in the side of the already listing sea traveler undoubtedly caused by the offender's momentum. Some of the containers had even dislodged themselves from their restraints because of the tremendous shock and had fallen over board. One could readily see the damage they had done before finally hitting the water. As if it wasn't enough, both of them had kept moving forward, because of their own propellers, and had finally ended in a shallow part of the port, before running aground, their keels getting stuck on a underwater rocky hill but in a few hours, the rising tide would allow them to lift off their makeshift resting bed and get out of the area.

There were at least a dozen Zodiac speedboats and two small tugs around the two wounded giants, attending to various tasks the first of which being to separate the two masses of torn metal away from each other. The crew already knew what had caused that incident as they had been confronted to the same phenomena the day before. They just didn't know that it had been that bad. "Captain, look on the side of the pier...yeah, right there!" said another individual who pointed to the construction that stretched out of the land like a helping hand.

"Damn it!" said the _Big Gee_'s skipper. "Don't tell me that bloke rammed straight into it!" he spat incredulously as he eyed the Ro-Ro ship that had probably run into the pier as it tried to dock and suddenly found itself as blind as a newborn cat. He could see docking cranes lying on their side, their metallic forms completely mangled from the collision's force. Fire trucks and their crews were still onsite, suggesting that the event had not limited itself to a big crash.

"Seems so, skip'" nodded his second in command. "Whatever happened last night left some scars...wondered what happened in Okinawa, though...I heard they got pretty banged up, too..."

"Old Nick must have thrown quite a tantrum yesterday" said humorlessly a low-ranking officer, referring to the navy's nickname of the devil. The Old Nick.

"Yeah. Lots of good guys must have gone to the Davy Jones' Locker" he agreed, replying with an equally old sailor's expression that simply meant 'dying' but sounded more casual. It somewhat surprised him to see that some of his crewmen still knew about words and sayings that went back two or three hundred years ago, up to Horatio Nelson's time. Still, it was quite agreeable if not funny. That is, if it weren't for the omnipresence of destruction around them.

The captain was staring at the scene of ruin when he felt some strange feeling in his legs, one that increased with every passing second. He turned his gaze downwards and saw nothing; intrigued, he looked around him and noticed nothing interesting either yet he still felt his feet...vibrate? _Yes_, he thought...that was it...a vibration. "What's that, now?" said someone on his left, as the remainder of the crew became aware of the motion. One of the three navigation officers ran to the hull sonar display and ordered a new scan. "Can't be it...the bottom's still in the safety margin...no reef...what the hell?"

The captain scurried back to the control panel next to the helmsman's position and grabbed a microphone labeled 'engine room'. He quickly punched the 'transmit' button and spoke directly into it.

"Engines, conn here. Are the engines still running or what? Over."

A crackle came back to him.

_"Negative, conn. All engines have been stopped per your orders ten minutes ago. Why? Over."_

"We've got vibrations, in here, and it's increasing. Do you have any ideas what it is? Check out the diesel. Over."

The officer looked port and starboard and found nothing that could cause such a phenomena that was not as reassuring as one would have thought for it directly meant trouble, especially for a supertanker that was filled with fuel and liquid gas. A floating bomb. The vibrations were now of high amplitude and many small objects that were not fixed started shaking and clattering. Some pens fell and even a few heavy items fell on the floor. The crew immediately rushed to prevent any other ones more valuable like chronographs, small computers, phones or binoculars from meeting the same fate.

_"Conn., the diesel is still running but the absorbing raft seems to work perfectly. We can feel it too, now is there something wrong up there?"_ asked the worried voice of the chief engineer that was in the propulsion control room three decks below.

"Engines, we've got no idea. Tell your guys there to keep searching for anything wrong. Call us back _immediately _if you spot something, out."

_"Copy that. Engines out."_

The captain then started to feel dizzy. The vibrations were dramatically increasing and things seemed to get out of hand and he still didn't have a clue why. He recalled a fact from his younger days when his father told him that a long time ago the technology that built the early propellers even till the 1960s was not very advanced but had greatly improved over years thanks to many discoveries in metallurgy. Each boat, in fact, needed a propeller of a very specific form one that fitted the shape of the hull, its size and its displacement, as well as the power of its engines. And during those times of imperfection, it was very common to feel important vibrations that were caused by the force of the beating blades and that sometimes had an amplitude of several dozen centimeters according to the type of boat in the engines room of ocean liners. But that had slowly disappeared as new designs were taken in consideration and computer-generated graphics had considerably helped reduce that kind of nuisance. And the _Globtik Endeavor _never experienced such a thing. There were enormous rafts that littered the inner keel that helped absorb the vibrations coming from the turbines and the propeller shafts, as well as the alternate power source, a small diesel generator. It just wasn't imaginable. Then, as he grabbed the radio mike to contact the port and inform the local authorities of this strange and alarming occurrence, a cry from one of his subordinates stopped him in his tracks.

"Captain, look there!"

He spun around and looked at the direction the sailor's finger was pointing. His eyes slowly widened as he saw a three- or four-meter tall wave speeding towards them. What was most surprising was that they were still at a depth were the underwater currents still kept the pace with the surface's water layer thus not creating a disruption that caused the topmost part to speed further and crash forward a wave. _That_ would only occur at a depth of less than three or four meters (the abrupt change of declivity forcing the lower layer of incoming water to slow down and thus cause a disruption) but not at fifteen. What was worse was the fact that he could see a small but wide bulge at the surface as if the ocean had suddenly decided to come forth and attack the coast. Then a thought struck him.

"A tsunami?"

As he was uttering the word, the wave finally hit the nearly motionless tanker. The effects were immediate: the whole crew (at least those who were standing and not holding onto something) was thrown off their feet and sent sprawling on the decks, some of the them even slamming into walls or control panels. Objects flew through the air and even some glass broke under the massive strain. They could even feel the boat starting to list port, the right flank rising off the water by at least two or three meters, exposing a great deal of red-painted hull to the air. The captain heard metal groaning and other things cracking as the tanker started to rake up against the bottom of the sea, sending a horrible screech to resound throughout the wounded giant's body the sound of metal grinding against rock and sand.

He tried to get up but cut the palm of his hands on glass splinters and winced. _Damn!_ He changed tactics and took a small folder case that had fallen off a table and used it wipe out the space in front of him allowing him to use his elbows to support himself and get on his knees. The collision and alert sirens were blaring loudly, giving his eardrums a hard time. He saw his comrades all around him, some of them groaning or moaning from pain and others cursing as only sailors could do. He noted with a cringe that one of them was unmoving his body resting at the foot of the maps table with the head bent at an unnatural angle. There wasn't any trace of blood but he knew that his spine must have been broken.

_Shit!_

He turned his gaze starboard then gasped at the sight in front of him.

Pandemonium.

There was no other word. The ocean was churning, as if boiling with anger, sending tons of water to shoot up in the sky in raging geysers, some of them even reaching sixty meters high. A soft mist was slowly clouding the _Globtik Endeavor_, and billions of droplets were falling on the deck and the superstructures, as if attempting to drown the whole ship. The captain couldn't even see what was happening outside. Visibility was null. Then a cold feeling overcame him. _The fuel._

Shit.

Shit and shit.

_I am sitting on a fucking bomb._

_With a v__ery short fuse._

He quickly got up then went out to get a clearer idea of what was happening and eventually help his subordinate evacuate. He went to the door and found it blocked. The pounding of the water on the glass was getting stronger. "Skipper, we need to get out of here!" The captain turned back and nodded. "Grab the mike and give the evacuation order, now! The rest, you worry about those who are hurt! Come on!" he urged, not wanting to spend another minute in this new hell. _As if things couldn't get better. Listen ye all, the world's gone mad! Prepare your tombs and weep!_

"Come on, come on", he muttered, as he tried to open the jammed door. He slammed his foot against it in frustration, but the wall of metal didn't budge one inch. He cringed as the pain finally overcame the numbing action of the adrenaline. "DAMN!" A burly sailor behind them then took an emergency axe and told him to stand aside. He swung the massive tool against the door, using the blunt end as a ram. With a crash, it finally moved outwards. The man repeated his motion once again and the panel nearly disengaged itself from its deformed frame. He then dropped the axe, leaned against the door and forced it open. "Thanks, Aki. COME ON, everyone out, NOW!" As the crew slowly get out, he stayed back to make sure every live sailor got accounted for and left the lower decks, as regulations forbid him to leave the ship before everyone else. Then, his task finished, he got out and found himself in a nightmarish landscape.

The hull was nearly bent he could see the bulbous bow of the prow sticking out of the water whilst the bow was perfectly horizontal even though it was listing on its left side. Water still fell on the deck and he could barely spot his friends and colleagues as they made their way towards the lifeboats and evacuation points. The floor was slippery as hell and with the angle, walking towards those areas of salvation was no easy task. Not without a risk of breaking your legs if not your own neck. Then a new shock sent them all back to the 'ground'. Two sailors even fell in the sea, having been startled from their position and thrown over the safety railings. Then a low, guttural rumble made itself known to the crew of the _Globtik Endeavor_ directly coming from starboard. The captain turned around and found himself gazing at something that seemed out of place.

A gigantic mass of black and white was rising from the depths of the ocean, its body releasing tons after tons of seawater to the surface in a never-ending cascade that sent waves to crash over the ruined form of the _Globtik Endeavor_ in a relentless assault, as if trying to finish off the job it had started. The dimensions of the 'thing' were so great that those who directly beheld it couldn't realize what they were seeing. The officer slowly opened his mouth...finally finding within himself the force to scream in horror...

As the behemoth stopped in its ascension and stood still...

...In a movement so quick that very few witnessed it and even less lived back to report it...

...Two gigantic limbs sped towards the _Globtik Endeavor_, embedding themselves in the body of the dying sovereign of the seas, tearing the metal as if it just were paper. The shock sent enormous tremors to run throughout the hull then...

...In a brilliant flash of light...the pressurized gas ignited, with the power of a small, low-yield nuclear bomb.

A massive ball of fire tore its way through the twin hulls and broke free, the long restrained gasses freeing themselves from their small environment and mingling with the atmosphere in a horrid show of destruction. The orb of flames quickly devoured the still form of the tanker before totally engulfing it and continuing its outward expansion at a fantastic rate. Even the local seismic research faculties recorded the vibrations from the event some even mistook it for a small earthquake before learning of the disaster. The sonic shockwave sped outwards, as a harbinger of ruin, hitting the closest installations of New Yokosuka ripping some of them apart and blasting every glass window in a twelve-mile radius. Buildings were blasted to smithereens and some ships also caught fire while others just joined their lost brother in its fate by the same way blowing up in 'sympathy' adding their ruin and their loss to that of the _Big Gee._

The bystanders and onlookers on the main pier met a quick death, not directly dying because of the heat wave but because of asphyxia the shockwave shoving the air out of their lungs before countless metallic splinters hacked up their bodies and fire finally turned them into red-hot plasma. Nobody ever heard their screams of horror before they actually got to die.

Millions ofburning debris, remnants of the _Globtik Endeavor_'s body that had arced skywards, finally answered to gravity's call and fell back on the refueling station and the high-capacity gas tanks. Some of them, being incandescent, either burned through the metal or dropped in areas where some invisible wisps of gas-state fuel lingered, effectively igniting them, starting fires that rapidly spread through the complex, feeding on the carburant. New explosions rocked the greatest port of Japan one that still had miraculously survived the horrors of the Second Impact.

Apocalypse began in New Yokosuka.

Za'amiel had finally arrived.

Its purpose: the end of Mankind.

Its destination: Tokyo-03.

* * *

_**To be continued...**_

* * *

**A/N:**

**01°)** The Spratley archipelago is located between Borneo, the Philippines and Vietnam and is mainly composed of long reefs, shallow strips of sand and small islands that can barely accept an airport's runway. The Germans had exploited that area in the 1920-1930s, making some money out of sodium resources that were buried down there and abandoned it when nothing could be extracted from the grounds anymore. It remained ownerless for long decades, until studies and discoveries of petrol fields in Indonesia made some engineers and geologists ponder about the probability of having a layer of fuel lying beneath that group of islands. As soon as the idea took form in the scientific community, politics and economics took over. Neighboring countries like the Philippines (the closest, from the east), Brunei (from the south), Vietnam (from the west), China (even though it's far away from the archipelago but such an opportunity should not be left out like that without trying) and even Taiwan (for the same reasons as China) claimed possession of the Spratleys and sent troops to militarily occupy that region. Currently, the Spratleys are being 'held hostage' by at least four or five countries, at various degrees. The situation is considered to be at a stalemate, even though there are still, from time to time, some live-fire skirmishes between the aforementioned parties. But, as of 2004, no solution has been found yet to the problem.

**02°)** Intelligence gathering can be divided into a lot of classes, the most important ones or famous ones being the ELINT, the SIGINT and the HUMINT, the two first ones being highly similar in concept. These three acronyms stand for Electronic Intelligence, Signals Intelligence and Human Intelligence. As stated higher, ELINT and SIGINT are about electronic signals or other types of transmission means that could be intercepted and analyzed. Their targets are: radio frequencies, radar emissions, Internet messages, telephone communication and so on, as long as it has something to do with electronics and communication or detection. That'd be the job of the American NSA, the most famous agency in the world dedicated to SIGINT and ELINT. The third means would rather be handed to the CIA for it involves human factors. HUMINT often implies psychological evaluation of individuals such as military staff, politicians, celebrities and so on...but it also has a lot to do with rumors heard off here and there and wired back to Intel. command if not directly stolen data or blueprints. HUMINT, thus, is carried out by people and not equipment the basic spying activity as seen in the Hollywood films but NOT like the James Bond fashion with all the luxury display and working in the open, while wearing a tuxedo and dating beautiful women...none of that. Without meaning any disrespect towards Ian Fleming's works and the James Bond's fans, those films are quite an insult to the HUMINT community who works in dreadful conditions but with a true, quiet passion that flows through their veins. HUMINT, for what is known of it, is reported to be dull, highly dangerous, stressful and most of all...done in complete secrecy. HUMINT agents (the word 'spy' is considered as pejorative and officially designates an Intel. agent from the 'bad guys' the other side allied 'spies' call themselves 'agents' or 'officers') revel in anonymity those who are noticed often end up dead if not in a cell without windows and with a single electric bulb, waiting for an interrogations officer to come in with a pair of tweezers and electric wires and make them cry out their secrets. The American RHYOLITE satellite is an actual system but that is used to gather radio and radar intelligence. Since both of them are electromagnetic waves, it should theoretically be very easy to reconvert the RHYOLITE into electromagnetic surveillance devices (even though, when it comes to EM, radio and radar are the first type of waves to be examined) or determinate it by 'playing' with the original SIGINT data and making some lucky guesses.

**03°)** The SOSUS (Sound Surveillance System) truly exists even though it is not much discussed nowadays its days of glory and renown being those of the Cold War for much of the relevant material is dubbed 'confidential'. In essence, the SOSUS is a shore-monitored network of thousands of hydrophone lines scattered all over the sea-beds of the northern Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, serving as 'underwater ears' for the Department of Defense (DoD) and more exactly the U.S. Navy. The main mission of the SOSUS network is to detect, trail and locate enemy or unknown submarines that cruise in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans and that could possibly jeopardize or threaten national security. The hydrophone systems can also be called 'passive sonars', as they only gather acoustic data but do not emit detection and ranging sound pulses like those usually heard in the stereotypical Hollywood submarine movies (the infamous 'ping'), and are attached to long, stout cables that litter the bottom of the ocean all of which are linked to multiples stations (St. Mawgan, Brawdy, Keflavik, Dam Neck, Centerville Beach...), which can be recognized by their prefix NAVFAC or JMF. The Commander Undersea Surveillance Atlantic and Pacific consolidated into one command located in Norfolk, Virginia (East Coast) and subsequently, the Command relocated to a place called Dam Neck. After the Cold War, the SOSUS underwent downsizing processes, which saw the closures of many facilities an event furthered by the arrival of newer technology that allowed remote monitoring of the underwater lines and thus didn't justify anymore the leasing of many buildings, like the NAVFAC Keflavik, in Iceland, the HQ for the GIUK (Greenland, Iceland, United Kingdom) gap part of the SOSUS network. Even though SOSUS is still shrouded in mystery despite the declassification of much of its technology, its capabilities are maintained secret for strategic reasons but it is rumored that a single of its hydrophones is perfectly able to hear the heartbeat of a baby whale still inside his mother's womb, which is quite impressive.


	9. Chapter 09: The Storm Of Flesh And Bone ...

**Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Beast Inside**

**Written by abi2301**

**Chapter 09**

**v.01: 12/07/2004**

**Official disclaimer:**

The Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series are the intellectual and material property of Gainax Studios, ADVision, Inc., Shonen Ace magazine, Hideaki Anno and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. All rights reserved. 'NGE: The Beast Inside' is a purely fictional series based upon the original NGE and written for entertainment purpose only. No money is made out of it.

* * *

**Chapter 09: _The Storm Of Flesh And Bone / A Farewell To Happy Times_**

_Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind._

**John Fitzgerald KENNEDY, Speech to United Nations General Assembly, 25 September 1961, in _New York Times_ 26 September 1961, p. 1**

_Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it._

**William PITT (Earl of Chatham), Speech, Hansard (House of Lords) 9 January 1770, col. 665. Cf. Acton 1**

_Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children._

**Dwight David EISENHOWER, Speech in Washington, 16 April 1953, in _Public Papers of Presidents_ 1953 (1960) p. 1**

_

* * *

_

_The sirens are wailing in Tokyo-03._

_For those who had lived there since its construction, they have been harbingers of doom, messengers of evil times and bad news. As the sound filled the still, heat-filled air of the new metropolis - a Babel of sorts for those who knew of Man's ambitions - the population quickly made its way towards the numerous shelters that were buried deep in the ground of the surrounding hills. Months if not years of drills and true Angel attacks have given them experience and to some, a feeling of routine. Yet, the collective mood of the capital's denizens was not one of calmness but one of dread and resignation. The only thing left for them to do, as they settled in those high-capacity survival chambers, was to hope for the storm to come and to settle down...and to walk away, spared by Fate to tell the tale._

_The sirens were wailing, their discordant notes weaving an unearthly lament that rang through the deserted streets and abandoned avenues of the manmade heaven._

_As the last citizen finally passed through the heavy gates of the underground shelters and relinquished himself to the hands of Destiny, the true face of Tokyo-03 made itself known._

_In a low rumble that sent tremors through the ground, skyscrapers and various buildings that surrounded the center of the city started to lower, slowly sinking inside the innards of Earth and towards the relative safety of the Geofront. As the constructions finally disappeared from sight and their roofs sunk beneath the surface, the home to hundreds of thousands of individuals became the fortress it was meant to be. Buildings started to rise at the empty area in the middle of Tokyo-03 - missile towers and other armament hangars that served as launch pads for the titanic guardians of the world's last defense against the messengers of death that were the Angels._

_Meanwhile, four hundred meters beneath, a conversation of sorts was being held._

* * *

"Yesterday in most of the country, there were a lot of power outages, electronic failures and other...incidents that caused most of Japan's infrastructure to go down. That's the main reason why everything went awry yesterday," explained a weary Misato Katsuragi over the communication network as she eyed the digital map screen. "We still don't know the full extent of the damages -just that it is _bad._ B like in 'battle', A like in 'accident' and D like in 'destruction'. Just bad. Our first assumption was that it was a major hacking attack like in 2010 when the French decided to cripple Great Britain and Germany to win their little war, but it was later determined by the MAGI that all that mess had been caused by an electromagnetic pulse of high intensity."

"An electromagnetic pulse?" asked a surprised Asuka. "An EMP attack?"

"Yes" confirmed the purple-haired major as she fingered with her cross. "But the EMP had some irregularities in its pattern - EMP weapons just let out a sort of EM blast that just lasts some milliseconds, no longer. What we encountered was more...refined than that. It was modulated instead of...raw. And it lasted three times longer than an EMP weapon and no one actually has sufficiently sophisticated technology to achieve a stunt like that."

"So, what are encountering, then?" asked a nervous Third Child as he gripped the butterfly command sticks in front of him. "An Angel?"

"Yes."

Curiously, the answers she got from her two charges weren't the one she expected. Asuka didn't yell with glee and Shinji didn't moan in worry; instead, they chose to stay silent, the atmosphere around them slowly donning its cloak of resignation. The arrival of the messengers of God were no more what they were to the eyes of the chosen progeny but a reminder of pain and suffering, of old wounds resurfacing and of the risk of dying. Both children had been scarred beyond recognition - physically and mentally - and they knew that what was to come was another chance to get more hurt than before, to see their lives shattered anew.

"This morning, we had received from our surveillance station in New Yokosuka a live feed from the Angel's arrival. Because of the EMP wave, most detection devices and early warning sensors in the area had been fried by the energy pulse, since they were closer to the point of emission than we were. Even the SOSUS underwater hydrophones didn't register the coming of the...anomaly...so we were completely caught unawares."

She then entered a few commands on her TERASYS console and a few images appeared on the giant holographic screen. "The Angel, number Eighteen, has attacked a supertanker that was docking at the moment and eventually destroyed it. Unfortunately, the blast caused more damages than expected and...well, I'll be frank with you...New Yokosuka is...no more...just ruins."

She heard a gasp from the Third Child as he realized that that meant thousands if not millions of people had just lost their lives in the last few hours. They were the next on the list.

"The only thing left in the area is a two-kilometer wide crater. Big enough to be seen from space without needing a telescope. Casualties are unknown but they have already gone over the six thousand dead level and it's still not finished since the Angel is still on the rampage and does not show any signs of settling down or simply stopping - not a surprise, but one never knows. Next entry on the bad news: the U.N. troops in the area were completely wiped out. The Fourth Pacific Fleet is now but a memory and the U.S. troops in the area were the only ones able to fall back with minimal losses even though their installations in the surroundings are completely destroyed so they too have been caught with their pants down. That means, in other words, that we're alone. We'll have no support from the JSSDF and the United Nations -their Non-Nuclear (N²) warheads were in the warehouses in New Yokosuka- they didn't even bother to divide their whole stock among their facilities and just chose to keep them in a single area for political reasons instead of practical - a fatal mistake," she concluded with a wry shake of the head. "The ground troops, however, are trying to keep it back but as you've already guessed, they won't last long. I expect them to hold an hour at least, retreat included."

They hologram changed to show a picture of a gigantic mass of black an white, clearly humanoid but with strange features - it looked like the Third Angel apart from the fact that it had many protuberances around its shoulders, like horns of sorts that surrounded the stump of flesh that was supposed to be the head of the beast. Two black holes gazed emptily at the world. But what were more surprising were the bony outgrowths on the back of the Angel - two wing-like appendages that stretched towards the sky - made of thick fiber that intertwined themselves in a willowy fashion. In the middle of the chest, a red orb glowed in a sinister manner - the Super Solenoid engine - the 'heart' of the Angel. Long arms ended with razor-sharp claws hung from the spike-adorned shoulders, giving the creature a strange sense of carelessness and of being in a daze - an assumption that could cost lives, as looks were often deceiving. All three pilots had discovered it to their own expenses.

"As you can see, the Eighteenth is a sort of a Third's spin-off, with some additions. However, we've got no information about its anatomy and capabilities. Just assume that it's as good as the Third, if not more. The nature of the protuberances sticking out of its back is still unknown - we don't know if those are wings or weapons of sorts - just watch out and follow the standard operation procedures as described in your manuals" she cautioned as she looked over the MAGI's reports. "Scans from the SERAPHIM system are inconclusive - as always. It seems that it's emitting a sort of jamming energy. Radar and low-frequency waves can't get through it and for some other reason, lasers are useless."

Dr. Ritsuko Akagi then took over, true to her scientist nature. "With what happened yesterday, it's rather certain that the target has EM capabilities - the angelic bodies have particulate and waveform patterns and properties so it's no surprise if they're able to modify the EM spectrum to their own needs - don't forget that light is a form of energy wave, too. IR, ultraviolet, X-ray, light rays, radio...they're waves...so watch out."

_"What do we know else?"_ asked Asuka in a bored manner, clearly wanting to get this over with. _"When will it arrive?"_

"It's coming directly to us, Asuka" answered Misato. "As always. That's all you need to know."

_"Is that all?"_

"Estimated time of arrival is three hours, and four if the U.N. pull a miracle on us."

_"Yeah...promises."_

"My thoughts exactly."

Behind them, Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki stifled a snort as he silently agreed with his subordinate. The U.N. was still persuaded that they could vanquish the Angels with their outdated weaponry - a belief that had been fueled by their success in slowing the Seventh Angel thanks to a N² aerial strike. Somehow they still forgot about what was known as the _Gaghiel Incident,_ where a fish-like Angel (the sixth) had literally destroyed half of the Pacific Fleet without sustaining any damage. In the end, Evangelion Unit 02 had been the one to kill it, with the sacrifice of two major assets of the U.N. Navy - two old _Iowa_-class battleships. The U.S., who still owned those units at that time, never got over their loss and had filed a major complaint at the U.N. Headquarters in Neo-New York. The U.N. troops, in turn, never forgave NERV for stealing their victory -their hate deepening because of the organization's assets and means, especially the Eva Units.

"It's Za'amiel, isn't it, Ikari?"

In front of him, bent over his desk, his hands joined in front of his mouth, Gendo Ikari smirked. "Yes. The Angel of the Storms. Quite fitting."

"Has the Committee already reacted to the incident?" he asked, frowning.

"Not directly. They just used the U.N. as their spokesperson."

"They _do _want us to destroy it, this time, don't they?"

"Exactly, professor."

"That doesn't make sense. Last time they sent us an Angel to put an end to this madness and now they ask us to kill its successor-in-arms."

"There are...some conveniences in the multiple paths of Fate, old man. They knew what they were doing," answered the dark-bearded scientist as he dismissed the comment with a wave of the hand.

"And now?"

"...You know that if the Angels win they won't gain anything in return, right? Apart from their own self-triggered downfall."

"So?"

"So they'll side with us. For the time being."

"They're crazy."

"No. Logical."

Six meters beneath them, Major Katsuragi strained her ears to catch a few words of the muttered conversation. _So they are no more allies with the Committee...they've got their own plans, now. They've drifted apart. That doesn't sound good._ She turned her attention back to the display in front of her and ordered the tactical map to be brought on the main screen. Immediately, the massive LCD rectangle lit up with an orange light as the surroundings of Tokyo-03 appeared. On the right side of the picture a single blinking point stood, surrounded by many blue dots that were labeled 'U.N. Arm. Div 37'. Za'amiel was sixty miles away from the city.

"Sir, the Thirty-seventh Armored Division has engaged the target!" shouted a military attaché in the lower decks.

"Bring up the live feed onscreen!" order the Major.

"Dialing...connection established, waiting for upload. Onscreen."

Immediately, the whole crew had an idea of how well the United Nations were faring -and, with no big surprise, it wasn't good. And nobody looked surprised as they had already fought against at least fifteen others and knew of their capabilities and near-invulnerability. Hundreds of antitank missiles were speeding towards their target, streaking the skies with white trails. They, however, never hit home as they met a glowing octagonal barrier that stood a dozen meters in front of the hulking beast, which still made its way towards Tokyo-03, unfazed and evenly seemingly unaware of the chaos around him. Railguns and cannons were thundering across hills, as the U.N. 37th AD unleashed volley after volley, trying at least slow down the progression of the walking terror...to no avail. Even their newest armor-piercing, fin-stabilized, discarding sabot shells turned out useless as they harmlessly crashed into the A.T. Field or just rebounded, never embedding themselves in the flesh of the Angel. All around the beast, explosions ripped apart the ground, sending dirt to fly up several hundred meters and setting fire to the forest. Smoke started to gather around the Angel, nearly masking it from the onlookers' sight.

"As predicted. Useless."

"Indeed" agreed Ritsuko Akagi as she eyed wearily the advance of the behemoth, as each of his gigantic steps took him closer to the Geofront, leaving behind a massive trail of destruction and horror. Hyuga shook his head and eyed a few situation reports from the U.N. communication desk. "Even their new EM-tipped shells don't work."

"EM-tipped?" frowned Major Katsuragi.

"Shells that had a little electromagnetic field transmitter in their tip. Reduces air drag and improves penetration, even with reactive or laminated armor. According to those who created it, it can punch through six meters of reinforced concrete without losing speed and still fly seven more until the velocity curve starts to dramatically dip. The U.N. Armament Research and Development Office were hoping that they might make a difference...but...well..." He didn't have to say more as the implicit comment was obvious to anybody. "What's the A.T. Field exactly, then?" asked Misato Katsuragi. She knew that it was a critical question that implied many secrets, most of which were close to the E-Project and she expected some lies...but she hoped that she would still have some answers, as basic as they could probably be.

Dr. Akagi sighed then replied: "They are sort of...energy projections. We don't know exactly - it's a sort of an endless conundrum. Early assumptions from the GEHIRN institute thought that it was a form of high-frequency energy kept in place by a very powerful electromagnetic field or an invisible matrix of sorts...but there is more to it, as it was discovered after the first Angel attacks. We didn't at first put advanced quantum theories in it but when we got the first data feeds we found that there were sort of...distortions of the space-time continuum. Small but still existing."

"Space-time? You mean..."

"No, not a black hole or any sci-fi crap, Misato. It might just be a side effect but nobody knows the true nature of the A.T. Field. That Angel...the Fifth Child...told Shinji that...well, he called it 'the light of his soul'. Very enlightening - pardon the pun - and very cheering. It just means that we cannot duplicate it."

Misato narrowed her eyes. "Why?"

The scientist seemed awkward for a moment. She even threw a furtive glance towards the command tower behind her and made sure the two commanders' attention was elsewhere - the screen, in their case - before answering, in a near whisper: "...The A.T. Field seems to be purely organic. Only living beings can generate it...the Evas do it naturally. Without help of any type of technology. It's in their nature. But, as for why human beings or animals cannot do it...well, search me."

"I see."

_More mysteries._

Well, you've said it before and you'll say it again.

Some things did change while some others didn't.

And some matters were no exception to that rule.

As always.

* * *

"Asuka?"

"Yes?" came the digitalized and encrypted answer of his teammate, as both Units sped towards the surface in the launch shafts, roaring their way upward. The electromagnet-clad cradles screamed as metal rubbed against metal, sending an impressive amount of sparks to engulf the two titanic figures as they rode towards their destiny. The g-forces were pinning the two pilots to their seats, causing them to feel a little bit...off, as their stomachs tried to fight the tremendous force that tried to keep them down.

"Do you think this one will be good for us?"

"What the hell is that for a question?" she growled in annoyance, rolling her eyes. "Since when have the Angels been sympathetic?"

Her harsh comment brought unbidden memories to resurface in the Pilot's mind, as pictures of him and Kaoru Nagisa popped up. He shook his head, desperately trying to keep his head clear and bad thoughts away. "No...I...I meant...do you think he'll be easy? To neutralize, I mean."

"We'll see."

Normally, Asuka would have answered with a boisterous 'Of course!' or an arrogant 'He's already dead as yesterday's fish!" but with the last attacks and their outcome, her confidence had taken severe blows from Fate and forced her to quiet down. She even started to eye those missions with slight distaste and even worry. But she would show none of that to her teammates or superiors, not even wimpy Shinji. She would NOT show them signs of weakness to be used against her. As she mulled those thoughts in her head, she sensed her stomach slightly rising, as her Eva slowed in the last meters of his ascension then crashed to a full stop, jarring the content of the Entry-plug with the shock of the arrival. Gigantic bolts locked into place and secured the launch pad into a locked position. Inside the plug, multiple messages popped up, warning her of the last safety measures being carried out. Then the shoulders and arms of the red-painted behemoth were released from their metal-shod bounds, finally allowing the forty-story tall mechanic to walk away towards battle. To her left she saw the already moving form of the purple-painted Unit 01, who was waiting at an armory building to pick up a heavy-caliber palette rifle. The M228K2 Eva-Standard Assault Rifle (ESAR) had been built specifically by NERV, Mitsubishi, the Singaporean STK and the American Alliant Techsystems (ATK) as a medium-range (according to the Eva scale) interdiction weapon and was classified as an electro-thermal and electromagnetic gun - as the 39.37''-caliber shell's cartridge was ignited with a modulated electric impulse that focused the propulsion gas forwards, sending the projectile to pass through a heavy barrel where it was accelerated by a strong EM field. The ESAR came with a three hundred-round helical magazine locked behind the grip. The outer appearance of the ESAR was based upon the 1990's Steyr-Mannlicher ACR - a dart-firing bull-pup weapon that had been proposed to the U.S. Army as a replacement for the M16 but that had never gone past the state of prototype.

"Eva Unit 01 is equipped with ESAR unit."

Asuka chose instead a progressive spear - a long metallic rod made of tungsten, carbon fiber and titanium, tipped with a long blade that constantly vibrated and thus allowed it to cut through most objects - much like a 'miniature' chainsaw. As Shinji reveled in medium-range attacks, preferring to keep the enemy at bay rather than meet him head-on, Asuka found her paradise in close-combat techniques, opting for sharp weapons like spears, axes, halberds, claymores, sabers, cutters or knives, which seemed to have, curiously, more effect on the Angels than guns or rocket launchers. Only God knew why, it was said, and he became mute when it came to answer those questions.

One of the reasons why she favored such tools of the trade was the fact that during her latest encounters with the Angels, none of the gun-type weapons she had used had had any effects on their target, the projectiles surprisingly having no other effect on their prey than a caress on a dead corpse. At best, it caught their attention but that type of event was no reason to rejoice as it meant that death was now looking her way. Only tearing, ripping, shearing-off or cutting devices seemed to change the situation in a good way - that being the main reason of her choice. But there was a drawback that even a rookie could spot from afar: the attacker needed to be close to its prey...and as an Eva would get closer to its nemesis' point of view, its visual profile would increase in size...thus giving their particle-beam weapons a very high probability of first-try hit...that is, if those monsters of the unknown were provided with such a thing. None knew the logic of the Messengers' anatomy, as neither could understand the subtleties of natural selection and evolution. Those were mysteries that would be left unanswered for eons to come, save for some proverbial higher authorities that had a part in conceiving such paradoxes and caprices in our existence.

"Progressive spear taken."

"Unit 01 and 02, move out!" came the order.

As soon as the two Pilots acknowledged it, the two massive mechanics walked away from the mobile arsenals and took their first steps towards battle, moving out of the fortress known as Tokyo-03 - towards the outskirts of the city.

* * *

"So it's true. A new one has come."

"A new generation is awakening. His brethren are already on the path of full awareness. It will only take a little amount of time until they will answer to the call."

The voice of Keele Lorenz rang throughout the room -one that only existed in a matrix made of algorithms and quantum physics and created out of a computer's imagination - merely a forum site the members attended in the form of holograms to hide their true identity.

"Za'amiel has already crossed the fourth barrier of the U.N. defenses - as planned," said the monolith called '06', with a tinge of slight amusement- as if the feeble attempts of the United Nations troops at stopping the Angel were entertaining him.

"It will reach Lilith's Egg at midday, if all goes well," concurred '04'.

"I take it that the avatars are already on the warpath?" asked '12' with a slightly worried voice.

"Ikari has no choice but to send his assets against the new Angels - to harness the power of Third Impact - of Instrumentality - he must be the sole one to claim its control. Do not worry. Sooner or later - he will move his rooks out," assured Keele.

"I see. What are our chances of success? The last messengers were dreadfully efficient in their endeavor to eliminate all form of resistance, if you all recall," reminded '02'.

"The _Gebura_ scrolls say 'that they will outshine the light of the firstborn - rising to the call of the father and the mother more determined than ever; they will be as adamant as the hardest stone and powerful as a raging storm. The roots of their essence will delve deep into the land of the Highest Choir, the Highest Circle were they were born and raised, under the word and command of the Almighty, stars among the diamonds in the sky'."

"In short?"

Keele remained silent for a moment - letting silence once again reclaim its rulership over the virtual discussion room. Seconds later the digital communication network transmitted SEELE's chairman's answer.

"They will be fiercer than the previous ones. Much fiercer and hell-bent on succeeding."

"May God have mercy on us" some chanted.

Nobody knew if the being to which those unofficial prayers were directed had heard their call.

Fate never noticed the lacks or surges of fervor - merely letting her caprices guide herself.

* * *

They were times where Kensuke wanted to whistle or sing aloud that old song of the sixties or seventies, _It's the same old song..._and each of those accursed times occurred when an Angel attack forced the population to evacuate the city and regroup down in the armored shelters around the Geofront. Why? Simply because each of the major exercises that were led throughout the capital were usually followed by statements or official explanations from the government and each time there was an Angel attack a complete blackout came along. Nobody knew then what was happening. All resources and infrastructures - such as communication networks - were shut down and lent or completely handed over to NERV for a greater rate of success in their military operations, leaving in the process thousands of people in complete ignorance of the situation, not letting them know whether they would live to see another sunrise or die in the next few minutes.

"It sucks."

"What'd you say?" asked the dark-haired teenager besides him.

"I - T - space -S -U- C -K -S -period," spelled Kensuke as he looked at his video recorder, which also could display television programs through its little LCD screen. Each time he tried to switch the TV channels on he would get an error message and a very short notice from the government that stated that because of the situation they couldn't issue any information bulletin to the population. In other words, it meant 'mind your own business' and only Tokyo-3's denizens understood what it meant.

"Same message?"

"Yup."

"I don't know why you even bother to try...you know pretty well that you're gonna have that fucking message. Really a waste of time, mate..." muttered Touji Suzuhara as he leant backwards, relinquishing himself to the relative comfort of a mattress hastily placed on the ground. All around him, people were either trying to sleep, reading to kill time or talking among each other. Hikari and her friends were indulging themselves in a card game - as her responsibilities as class representative forbade her from falling asleep and ordered her to constantly keep an eye on her fellow students. So far it was working.

"Well...one never knows..."

"Yeah...and I'm Queen Mab."

Kensuke Aida sighed in defeat and closed his video camera. "Spoken like a true Stooge, your majesty!"

"Hey! I've got a reputation to hold up, you know!" Touji protested with a mock-scowl.

"Do you?" Kensuke answered with a feigned air of skepticism - clearly doubting the last remark.

"At least I've got one - not like some other individuals..." the black-haired boy sniffed.

"Ouch - that hurt!" Kensuke winced then went back to more serious matters, as their current situation wasn't one that bode happiness but inspired more worry. "Do you think they're alright, up there?"

Touji remained silent for a moment, as memories of the Thirteenth Angel came back to his mind's eye. Pictures of a dark blue beast threatening to crush Eva Unit 01's throat arose, followed by that of an enraged behemoth pummeling Unit 03 to death, cracking the latter's braincase on the pavement by a mighty swing of its metal-shod fist. An Entry-Plug slowly cracking then crushing, as the fingers of Eva-01 tightened around the cylinder - the self-proclaimed throne of life of the Angel. The former Eva Pilot shivered.

"They will."

But his heart wasn't in his declaration.

There were times where Fate never took care of heartfelt prayers.

Such as now.

* * *

"Sixth line breached. Last defense has fallen. There's nothing left between the city and the target," reported Hyuga with an ever so small amount of emotion in his voice, as he had lived through so much of those situations and got accustomed to them - no longer responding to the ensnaring calls of fear.

"Asuka, Shinji, did you hear? Target is coming, straight ahead. Heads up." announced Major Misato Katsuragi as she watched the radar dot on the holographic map move closer to Tokyo-03. "He's coming through the Komagatake Pass. Safeties off and look out - follow the ROE."

Seven kilometers away, both hands of the pilots depressed a single button on the butterfly grips. The gesture cut a small amount of electric current that passed through the pieces of metal and plastic - the interruption sending a signal towards a small liquid-state computer built within the pilot's seat - where the commands were encoded by a quantum-state encryption program and sent to a routing system riveted on the top extremity of the Entry-Plug. A input/output sensor within the dorsal 'hump' of the Eva would then acknowledge the signal and send it back to the bio-electronic brains of the mechanic, where it would finally be processed and redistributed in a more 'organic' state - the microchips embedded in the gray matter translating the incoming data in electrical pulses that were consistent with organic patterns. The laws of physiognomy and anatomy then took over, as muscles flexed or relaxed as the discharges caused their cells and sinews either to contract or to 'dilate'. That 'fly-by-wire' concept (the name was taken from aircrafts' technology) was enhanced by the fact that there was a mental link between the Eva and its pilot - but most of the data pertaining to its working were highly classified. One second after the commands were giventhe gigantic robots kneeled, ready for battle. Eva Unit 01 brought its ESAR to its armored 'cheek', keeping its aim directed towards the Komagatake pass. Inside the Entry-Plug, the Third Child activated the automated targeting system and the remote video camera mounted on the upper receiver of the rifle,providing him with a clear idea of where the bullets would hit. Then the mechanic's enormous finger flipped the safety catch off, allowing the weapon's hammer to cock itself into an 'armed' position. Unit 02 brought its spear's tip to rest upon the ground while keeping both hands on its body, ready to level it up and bring it back down on the Angel, should it come too near to them. Shinji would provide medium-range cover fire, keeping the target busy and distracting it, giving the Second Child a moment of respite to come near to it and finish it off with a single swipe at the Super Solenoid core. The Rules Of Engagement (ROE) were adamant in the fact that an Angel interception should never be carried out by a single Unit - always by at least two of them.

"Unit 01 - I'm clear," Shinji announced as he scanned the horizon. He could see smoke rising from behind the hills, heralding the approach of the harbinger of death and its wake of destruction.

"Unit 02 - ready to fight," added Asuka as she examined her surroundings, already drawing up maps and plans for her attack. Unfortunately, the nearby hills and forest-laden crests did not give her much freedom of movement. She grunted in annoyance as the implications sunk in. _Not enough breathing area in here. If we go too close to him, we'll be both sitting ducks._ _We have to hold our ground and hope that that idiot Shinji succeeds in pinning him down with his rifle._

A crackle of static brought them back to reality. "Target is coming."

* * *

"Fuyutsuki," said the Supreme Commander as he looked over the holographic map, weighing their chances of success.

"Yes?" answered the gray-haired scientist with a frown, already foreseeing a change of plans by the tone taken by his superior.

"It's time to see if our efforts were worth the trouble."

Fuyutsuki immediately tore his gaze off the command screen, forgetting in an instant the Angel and its mauling of the remaining U.N. units. "What?" he ejaculated in a whisper.

"If the Scrolls tell the tale true then we'll have some problems bringing this Angel down," Ikari declared, eyeing the dark walking figure.

"But..."

"He won't show his true abilities until he finally meets his judges - the avatars."

Fuyutsuki did not like at all the turn of the events - as he already guessed that this day would be a turning point in the paths of Fate but he did not know what would be its outcome, only that it would change things forever. He already disapproved of the 'Golem' program and its counterparts, but the fact that Ikari would use it so soon in the upcoming war clearly revolted him, as the consequences of such a decision were incalculable.

"But, Ikari, isn't it too soon? What are you doing?"

"I will awaken him."

With that he turned away, leaving the command tower towards the small elevator in the back of the platform. He stepped on the small pad and pushed on three buttons before finally locking gazes with the bewildered Sub-Commander. "Take command in my stead. I will not be long...I hope" he said with a smirk.

With a slow hum the most feared man in the world disappeared in the ground - towards the Eva holding bays and the second command post built above Unit 01's cage.

Beneath them, Major Misato Katsuragi noticed with a small frown the small exchange between the two officers - not liking at all the looks the pair bore and the recent development. _Why the hell is he leaving his post right now?_ As she mulled these thoughts in her head while trying to keep an update of the battle, she didn't note the disapproving looks her old friend was giving her.

_It will get you nowhere, Misato. And it will bring nothing more, either. Apart from hurt and tremendous-sized trouble_, thought Ritsuko Akagi.

_As if you didn't have enough of them right now. You must always seek out for complications._

And with a shake of her head, she concluded in grim fashion:

_After all, it's in Mankind's nature to do so._

* * *

"He's taking his time, I tell you."

_"Quit complaining, Asuka, please!"_ pleaded a tired Misato Katsuragi. _"He's coming, okay? He's not taking a stroll towards Paris or Zanzibar - he's coming towards YOU."_

"I KNOW. But he better get his ass here right NOW before I decide to torture him _before_ killing him!" she replied in a huff, the tension slowly sinking inside her and wracking up her patience.

_"Calm down, Asuka."_

"I did not ask anything from you, Third Child!" she retorted, clearly not wanting the pity of others - but strangely seeking for their attention.

_"I know. Sorry."_

She shook her head, gritting her teeth in frustration. _Sorry - sorry - sorry. That's all he knows about human language and vocabulary! What a DORK!_

_"Station 348 has the target in visual"_, announced the loudspeaker, tearing her from her bitter thoughts, sending a wave of adrenaline to wash over her body. Their time was coming. _"Contact lost with station 348. Video feed interrupted."_

_"Units 01 and 02 - watch out."_

Both pilots acknowledged the order, silently preparing themselves for the battle. They focused their attention on the valley in front of them, keeping their eyes trained on every form of movement that could be perceived. But they only saw the small ripple of leaves and branches on the trees as a small wind hit them. A little amount of fog had gathered on top of the rocky crests, reducing visibility but otherwise both units had a clear view on the Komagatake Pass - where the Angel would appear. Unfortunately, that crease of the Earth's surface was slightly incurved - robbing them of the sight of what was behind the hills. Tension climbed sky-high as no signs of life emerged from the surrounding landscape - the only sound heard around being the low howl of the wind.

Seconds ticked by and many foreheads, especially in the Geofront's headquarters, started to gather sweat beads.

Two minutes flew by and the Angel still wasn't there.

_"What the heck?"_ nearly screamed the Second Child as she turned left and right to see if the Angel had not changed paths and crept behind them.

_"Misato, where's the Angel?"_ asked the other pilot as foreboding filled him.

_"We don't know - stay where you are and keep sharp. We're sending drones towards the area for 360° video coverage."_

Overhead, two _Eagle Eye_ tilt-rotor, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) buzzed their way towards the battle area. They soon disappeared from view, never to be seen afterwards.

Thirty seconds later, a message came from the bridge.

* * *

"The time has come for him to arise," he murmured. "How ironic Fate can be, isn't it?" he asked to no one, even though it was aimed to a few select, one of them surprisingly being an estranged one.

"You are frail and fragile. Weak. Yet you don't know what you hold in that body of yours."

Gendo Ikari looked at the LCD screens in front of him and smirked, as destiny was his to master - that momentary ability being the closest impression to immortality and omnipotence being allowed to him in his mortal frame. Godhood was rightfully theirs. Mankind had been chased out of Eden by an angry Angel, upon the word of the Almighty - forever condemned to suffer, die and work for salvation and forgiveness. The world had paid ten times the price of Knowledge in the drama known as Second Impact. Now it was time for them to reclaim their place in the sunbathed fields of Heaven.

"You are the key to Ascension and the Holy Gates of the High Realm. The Alpha and the Omega."

His eyes darted towards the biologic readings of the pilots, keeping note of the changes in their body's blood chemistry and the brains' wave patterns. _Soon._

"The Beginning and the End."

He entered a few commands and directly entered an I/O program that was directly linked to the Evas' autopilots.

"The Antichrist - yet a Messiah robed in darkness."

Unknown to all, he opened an audio link to Eva Unit 01 and blocked all _out_going audio feeds to the bridge so that his subordinates wouldn't be able to hear what he would say on the comm. when the time would be right.

Yet he said nothing.

For the time being.

* * *

"We've lost contact with the drones - I've got electromagnetic turbulences in the area - we're losing the communication channels!"

Major Misato Katsuragi winced as the news reached her eardrums - loss of communication would be disastrous as the two Eva Units would in the process lose support, source of real-time information and advice if not command.

"What of the laser communication system?"

"The Evas are too far for the signal. And...visibility index is decreasing...that doesn't concur with the weather forecast - we've got a problem, here!"

_Tell me something I don't know!_ Major Katsuragi silently screamed at the technician before Hyuga interrupted her chain of thoughts with another alarming discovery.

"What the - I've got anemometric readings going off the scale! Wind speed is increasing around the Komagatake Pass. Air pressure is falling - air currents are increasing in volume!"

"Grid Alpha-two-nine, Hotel-eight-six shows major changes in thermal situation. The repartition of heat over the area is mutating - thermal stratification is degrading dramatically! Temperature is dropping - loss of six degrees Kelvin per minute. Actual readings: eighteen degrees thirty-nine Kelvin."

Then the voice of one of the two pilots rang throughout the comm. system, reminding to some that they were closer to the phenomenon than others.

_"Misato, what's going on?"_

* * *

Smoke billowed upwards over the hills that surrounded Tokyo-03, as if leading a dance of tremendous dimensions, answering a call from nature itself. The mist that had gathered around the heights of the forest-clad earthy crests seemed to move of its own accord, finally breaking its unnerving stillness. Overhead, the clouds seemed to join in the curious behavior that seemed to take over the residents of the air, while surprisingly increasing in volume and in weight, as the masses of airborne water began to slowly descend. Grey smoke swished around, like leashes, twirling around the hills in a circular motion. Leaves and various debris from the ground were flying everywhere as the wind picked them up and threw them across the landscape, sending dust and dirt to rise two to three meters in the air. The two Evangelion Units were soon finding themselves in a churning environment, fighting desperately to get a grasp of reality as the world around them suddenly started to change in a most unnatural way.

"What the hell? Asuka, what's happening?"

"How the hell do you want me to know?" came the static-riddled answer. Shinji could sense the tension breaking in her voice as she, too, tried to comprehend why everything started to run amok when just ten minutes, perfect stillness and calm assumed lordship over the landscape. "It's becoming Hell right here!"

"We should get out of here, Asuka. It doesn't look good!"

"Are you crazy? The Angel is coming! We've got to stop him!" she retorted.

Shinji didn't answer as his eyes focused on the Komagatake Pass in front of him. The sky had gone dark, as dust mingled with the nebulas and gave them a darker pitch - an infection of sorts that started to seep through the clouds overhead, giving the impression of being in the late afternoon. Winds roared around as they wracked up the surrounding landscape, tearing objects and landmarks as stormed away. The pilots could even see little wooden constructions beginning to tear up under the strain, their roofs ripping themselves off their walls. As the storm raged around them, the roar of the upcoming tempest rose to its fullest height, forcing the two Eva pilots to shut down their external audio feed pickup systems. Nature, it seemed to both teenagers, was throwing in a tantrum. One that both had never witnessed beforehand until now. The Third Child's eyes slowly went upwards and bore into a twirling mass of dust and smoke, one that descended from the heavens towards the ground, spreading destruction around as it went. A holy staircase that assumed a cylindrical and grayish appearance.

"A storm. We're in a storm."

"A tornado, idiot! NOW, we've got to get out of here!"

Shinji slowly got up, but as the mechanic rose to its full height, higher than most of Tokyo-03's buildings, he encountered the force of the winds, that nearly sent the biomechanical being to stagger under the strain and fall backwards. "Damn it!" He decided to reduce his profile and slowly started to make his way back towards the Japanese metropolis, the last haven.

_"This is Locust six-eight. Air Ops, we cannot maintain position over the battlefield - wind is too high for us. We have to break away and find another position. Requesting directions, over!"_ announced one of the VTOL attack aircrafts as his squadron abandoned its position for a better place, their engines already raging at full power to fight back the air displacement and get out of the turmoil.

_"Six-eight, roger. MAGI suggest points Foxtrot-two-one for Wing One and Golf-three-seven for Wing Two - it's outside the danger margin and the direct influence area. Over."_

_"Roger and out. We'll call back once we get there."_

_"Acknowledged, Air Ops out."_

_"Units 01 and 02, fall back to point Echo-four-nine and secure a new assault position."_

"We're already on our way, Misato," answered the Third Child, as his 'feet' dug into the ground, trying to fight the pull of the wind, using his arms to wave away the dirt-filled mist that was gathering around them, as it spun towards the tornado. "We'll be there in a couple of seconds."

_"Make it fast! You don't have much time; our detection network is going to Hell right now so you better get your ass in gear before we lose contact with the battlefield."_

"Roger and out."

As soon as the words died in the cylindrical cockpit, their vibrations swallowed by the murky LCL fluid, the two Evas exploded from their position, desperately breaking into a run, trying to put as much distance between them and the incoming Angel. Dirt kicked up dozens of meters up in the air as the giants of steel and manmade flesh sprinted through the hills, leaving behind them a wake of smoke and dust - one that soon disappeared, vacuumed by the irresistible attraction of the tornado. The thunder of their frantic footsteps was heard all over the abandoned metropolis as the two Units ran towards their new blocking point.

_"Wind speed has gone over the tenth degree of the Beaufort Scale! Current anemometric reading is 62.78 miles per hour and rising, now 63.81! Storm status has just been applied to the Kanto Region by the MAGI System. The tornado is inbound point Echo-four-zero, estimated speed: 23.05 miles per hour, stable, bearing zero-one-three. Air pressure is falling under twenty-five points beneath the current atmospheric pressure. Hygrometric readings are rising."_

In the command bridge, the same type of storm reigned in all its dreadful glory. Technicians were shouting updates and other bits of information at each other, as the situation started to develop in a dramatic fashion. Sensors were starting going out in a large portion of the area of operations (AO), forcing the staff to fall back on medium- to long-range surveillance systems that were scattered around Tokyo-03 - thus slowly blinding them by masking and reducing the sight of the incoming target. Because of the raging storm overhead, visibility was reduced to a scant minimal and even infrared vision devices were going useless as dirt covered them and thick mist messed up with the electromagnetic and heat spectrums. Radar antennas over the Pass were torn off their hinges as the wind crashed over them, the flow of air distorting their frames and ripping them from their metallic masts. Only fixed arrays had a chance of surviving the moving source of destruction and even so, the situation was already too disastrous in a tactical point of view to hope for something useful on their behalf. One hundred tanks from the U.N. troops had taken position near the battle zone and were now retreating at an increased pace, trying as fast as they could to return to their underground shelters. Air squadrons were returning to their home bases because of high winds preventing them from flying correctly and attacking - rendering missiles and bombs useless against their target. In short, all allied forces in the vicinity of Tokyo-03 were facing a deadly quandary: either fall back and shield themselves from the incoming onslaught or stand up and brace for the roaming disaster. Most of them chose the first option, throwing chaos in the U.N. lines.

"We're getting abnormal readings from the city's sensors! The buildings' vibration frequencies are starting to rise!"

Major Katsuragi looked at her friend with a quirked eyebrow, silently begging for an explanation. "Resonance. Most of the buildings are empty and serve as either holding bays, mobile arsenals or launch pads and the such. Even though they are coated with laminated and composite armor, their height makes them sensible to wind, especially high ones. And since they're empty...they act as resonance boxes. If the wind goes too high, they'll start to sway and...eventually either collapse or tear themselves apart, just like the Tacoma Narrows bridge."

"What about that storm -where does it come from?"

"MAGI gives an inconclusive diagnosis but says that it might be the result of an A.T. Field used to channel air currents into a sort of miniature tornado. There's also the possibility that the Angel's changing the local atmosphere into plasma by using its Field" answered Hyuga, who was frantically punching keys and skipping through OS windows like a maniac. The amount of information collected was so big that most of the time the techs had to drop half of them as they didn't bring anything relevant or useful for the operations. SERAPHIM was sometimes a little bit too accurate, as was CERBERUS and ABADDON, the downsized versions of SERAPHIM, used for downtown and Geofront coverage.

"The same concept, but by other means - maybe if we could break the A.T. Field's pattern by moving an Eva closer to the Angel or send it on a direct field nullification approach, we could stop the tornado and finish it off...by creating an interference, in short..." mused Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, looking over the displays with a pronounced frown.

"Units 01 and 02 are in position and awaiting orders!"

Major Katsuragi soon found herself plunged into her element and sprang into action.

"Units 01 and 02, hold your position and keep your aim on the Pass. Fire upon visual contact with the target. I declare weapons free, I repeat _weapons free!_" she shouted. Outside, in the raging storm, the two Eva pilots acknowledged the order, noting that the quality of the comm. signal from headquarters was slowly degrading, as static started to replace clearness. Shinji tightened his grasp on the two butterfly handles and willed the advanced targeting display to dislodge itself from the headset and place itself beyond the pilot's eyes - providing the latter with a direct video feed from the M228 K2 ESAR's optronic camera. "Unit 01 ready to fire."

_"Unit 02 set. Awaiting contact."_

* * *

"The time is coming. Soon, Yui. Soon" murmured the still form of Gendo Ikari, peering over the command panels inside the secondary control center in the Eva cages. The twenty-some displays in front of him fed him with a wide array of images from the battlefield, showing how fast the situation was deteriorating. More reports from U.N. commanders having to break formation or abandon their posts were coming with a blood-curdling frequency, like a requiem of sorts. The Supreme Commander of NERV glanced up, slowly taking in the image of his son, concentrating on his tensed form. Wariness and dread were written all over his figure. Even the skintight plug-suit showed how crispate his body was, the muscles painfully visible. Yet, nobody noticed that they were more so this time, as if they had suddenly grown in size and volume...but as the changes were so subtle and so fortuitous that no one ever took note or saw it.

"It is said that a savior will arise from the fields of pain and will bear the standard of those who have fallen into the pits of Hell. Those who, like Job, have lost everything for a God that put them at bay from their Paradise and submitted them to deadly tests. The test of worthiness" he said to no one, as if telling a story to an invisible audience. His words rang empty in the deserted hangar, meant for no one else but him. His fingers danced over the keypads, entering intricate commands into an electronic panel - a gesture that Gendo Ikari called the 'rewriting of future'.

"A savior...a lamb among the soiled lambs. One that would rise from the darkness, towards the light. Like a legend of old."

The scrolls of Gebura were right, Gendo Ikari mused. All the hints pinpointed to a single individual - one that for some was most unusual yet for others that were initiated to the deepest secrets of Time and Fate highly obvious. What was most irritating yet incredibly challenging (in Gendo's opinion) in the scriptures was the fact that no one was known by name but by a sort of code or appellation, leaving their true identity shrouded in darkness and uncertainty. Titles and expressions were oft to be found among the last remnants of the old lore and some of them even designated a same individual, making the whole process even more difficult for those who had the painful and time-consuming task to decipher the incredibly arcane writings of the Dead Sea. Found in the 1940s by a farmer in a small cave, the famed Scrolls were not only the last specimens of the Bible's New Testament drafts and lost gospels but also texts that went back dozens of millennia before the birth of the so-called Jesus Christ. Nobody knew from where they were originated nor who wrote them. None even knew if they were the works of humans or of higher beings. The only thing known was that they were written in a language no more spoken. Even Sanskrit held no likenesses with it and the small group of intellectuals who purchased those particular blueprints considered it as a sign of great importance. The worst was that most of the members were religious zealots who wanted to find in there the proof of God's existence, finally getting their hands on a proverbial Ark that become their own banner for a better world. That group made of German historians and some industrial magnates that survived the economic disaster of World War II, soon assumed a name that most found highly spiritual.

SEELE.

Soul, in German.

SEELE went undercover after the acquisition of those artifacts, as they feared their peers' greed and jealousy. Over time the Church had waged a long and bloody war to get rid of every text or object that provided grounds for controversy or contradiction about the Bible's dogmas. Ever since the lords of Constantinople had made Christendom their new battle horse to secure their power inside their society, and made a single man a living God, all proofs of the _mortal_ life from that individual - Jesus - had to be destroyed. The gospels of Mary, of Peter...all were lost to the ambitions and political hunger of kings and emperors. Even the Cathars and the Templar knights were exterminated for challenging Rome's power...and the artifacts they held burned into dust...never to behold light again.

Yet, two decennia after 1940, a secret breakthrough in computer technology helped translate the Scrolls or at least parts of them. Surprisingly, days after the first pages were submitted to the translating computers and revealed their true contents, a dozen or so of SEELE's members died or disappeared, as if an unknown plague or curse had befallen them. Others just dropped off the surface of Earth. Most rumors stated that the truths of the Scrolls had shaken the small community like a small earthquake, reading nine or ten on the Richter's scale, and that the old men couldn't bear them.

But, mused Gendo Ikari, in fact, it was just the result of a small witch-hunt led to purge the ranks of SEELE from those unworthy of such information. Bigotry and fanaticism always won over rationalism and cold heads.

"A savior. A messiah -_'one gifted with pure hands yet given a clouded heart and a torn soul. Insomuch as his past is filled with darkness unabated,his future will be riddled with countless tests about his worthiness. As he shall give the pauper a roof to shelter him from woes uncounted and food to ease his body or shall ignore those who are in need, will his own path be decided. Either will he find the path to the lands of the Great One, alight with Glory and Peace, or he will walk down the slope of Despair down to the vales of the Wicked One. He will either be seated at the right of the Almighty or will lurk in the land of the shadow.'_ His first test begins now."

He remained silent for several seconds, gazing into a direct video from the Komagatake Pass. His figure went totally still as if awaiting a moment long hoped for, tension visible all over his figure, yet contrasting with his steel-hard face...one that showed calm and method. As he saw the tornado finally emerging, a tunnel of wind and dirt slowly advancing towards the metropolis, his lips broke into a smirk.

"No matter what the Scrolls state, you _will_ win this war...and lead us to Heaven...for you are _already_ from the Light, deep inside yourself."

His teeth shone unnaturally in the semi-darkness of the secondary command center.

"And you _do_ are seated at the right of the Almighty, as they say."

* * *

"There he is!" Shinji grunted. The tornado ripped itself away from the pass, finally emerging from its cloak of rock and forest and revealing itself to the two behemoth guardians. Inside, at the base of the column of moving dirt and swirling air, moved a shadow, one whose features were blurred by the motion of tiny solid particles and fluids that acted like a robe of sorts. Yet both Pilots could clearly see the moving figure that undoubtedly was the Eighteenth Angel. "Unit 01 is opening fire!" he shouted over the comm. hoping that either his teammate or headquarters would hear him over the static that flooded the communication network. He brought his rifle to aim and brought the ESAR's electronic bulls-eye to bear on the dark form that moved with a strange, unnatural and traitorous impotency. The circular symbol beeped off as it centered dead-point. As the 'locked' tone rang inside the Entry-Plug, the Third Child depressed his right trigger finger on a button on the butterfly handles. Outside, the same gesture was repeated, as the Eva's enormous limb closed itself around the trigger of the gigantic rifle. The 1x8.093m cartridge inside the heavy barrel was ignited by an electrical impulse, set off by seven titanium igniters. The PBXN-103 explosives soon lost their solid state and turned into churning, burning gasses that expanded at an incredible rate, ripping the 39.37''-caliber shell from the round's rim and propelling it forwards inside the polygonal barrel. The right-hand rifling soon made it spin at a high speed, increasing its accuracy and its first hit probability, just as electromagnets kicked into action all along the twenty-meter long titanium tube, exerting a new pull over the metallic projectile and causing its initial speed to rocket skywards. In less than three milliseconds, the artillery shell was over Mach 13, an incredible feat that would put at shame the old Big Bertha from World War II.

Other 'bullets' followed, forming a deadly stream that arced towards their target, slightly thrown off their true trajectory by the moving wind. Flashes and slight vibrations in the Entry-Plug told the Third Child that his rounds had hit home. Yet, he continued to fire his ammunition mercilessly on the Angel, dead set on denying him passage towards the Japanese capital. Explosions rocked the earth, as proximity fuses detonated at least half of the shells, the others simply impacting on organic matter, sending balls of fire to blossom in midair. Their low rumbles made themselves known over the howl of the raging wind. _Barrel is slightly overheating_, Shinji thought as he glanced at the holographic readings beside him. The whole inside of the Entry-Plug was made of liquid crystal fluid, which was kept in place by billions of small transmitters that created an ever-present, low-intensity electromagnetic field. Slight changes in frequency and power amplitude allowed the color spectrum to vary, thus allowing images to form inside the cylinder of steel and carbon. A matrix computer under the pilot's seat created a small distortion in the video feed, giving the E-P's occupant an idea of the perspective.

"Go down, go down, go down...!" the pilot lowly chanted, praying desperately that his target would fall to his attack, like that peculiar spider-like one had, torn apart by thousands of bullets. Sweat drops mingled with the LCL, denying the technicians in HQ another sight and sign of his own nervousness. Soon his rifle's bolt clicked open, signaling that his magazine was completely empty. "Unit 01 has gone Winchester!" he frantically signaled over radio, using that old Air Force code that meant 'I've expended all my ammo'. He turned to the holographic picture on his left, which showed him the anxious face of the Operations Commander, Major Misato Katsuragi.

_"Shinji, return to point Echo-four-eight, we'll send you a new rifle through the ordnance launch pad. We're scrambling up some tech help here - you'll need heavier weaponry to take the Angel down."_

"Roger, moving out," acknowledged the nervous teenager as the fuzzy comm. hologram winked out. The Eva once again sprung into action, bolting out from its place in an explosion of dirt and smoke, sprinting towards the ordnance deposit point - a large-scale elevator used to bring Eva-sized equipment to the surface from the bowels of the Geofront. Behind him, Asuka Soryu Langley found herself in an frustrating quandary: either she waited for her teammate to come back and cover her while she made her own approach towards their target or she acted on her own and try to bring the ethereal messenger down all by herself. Her blood told her to go and rip the enemy to shreds but her brain retorted the opposite, urging her to wait for Shinji. _That fucker is still too far for engagement. If I start running too soon, Shinji will have to open fire and will rapidly run out of ammo. And I'll be out in the open like a neurasthenic goose, with as much cover as there is air in space._ Two hundred meters away, Evangelion Unit 01 skidded to a stop as it approached the large metal square that opened to reveal two new M228 K2 ESAR units and one M41A3 XARL, the Experimental Artillery Rocket Launcher, a bazooka clone that could be used as a machine gun, launching oversized LOSAT missiles instead of heavy-caliber shells. He grasped one ESAR, tucked another under his arm and took the last weapon in hand, before running back to his previous location. In the meantime, the Angel had shortened the distance between itself and the Evas by two hundred fifty meters, threatening the two mechas to drown into the spinning vortex, the massive gust of wind deteriorating severely their tactical situation by reducing visibility and accuracy.

_"Get your ass back here, Third Child! Pug-face is getting too close to my own taste!"_

"I'm coming, Asuka!" answered the young man, as he eyed the shadowed form getting nearer. He dropped into a kneeling position in mid-stride and dropped one ESAR and the XARL, bringing the other weapon close to his 'cheek'. Once again the deafening rattle of the high-scale rifle tore through the pandemonium across Tokyo-03. Shells ripped through flowing air and either volatilized into deadly clouds of flame or directly impacted onto flesh - to no visible effect, as the Angel kept its pace.

"Going in in three seconds!" announced Asuka as she leveled her progressive spear, setting the vibration frequencies and intensity to their highest mark. She could already see the blade glow before her eyes, ready to cut through bone and gore and drink the blood of its prey like some foul beast of some horror tale. "Two." The ground shook as the tornado neared the two behemoths, sending millions of debris of all sizes to go airborne in a circular dance, either throwing them outwards or spinning them like some hacking weapon. "One." Giant actuators, enormous biomechanical muscles and servos stirred and flexed into motion as the Evangelion crouched like a sprinter, ready to run forwards towards its destiny.

"Let's go!"

True to her word, Asuka willed her Eva into a dead run, forcing the mechanic to meet the incoming meteorological phenomenon. As soon as she got close she bent her Unit downwards then sprung upwards, sending her Unit airborne, spear held high over her head. Her sprint's momentum sent the robot high in the sky, jumping at least sixty meters above ground level, in a more or less graceful arc. Behind her, Shinji stopped firing so that his teammate wouldn't be hit afterwards. Blue-on-blue accidents were frequent and more likely to happen, especially with weapons _this _size. 'Collateral damage' had to be kept at a minimum.

Asuka soon found herself above the Angel, just as gravity reclaimed its control on the titanic robot, its pulling driving back thousands of tons of flesh and armor back towards the ground. She gritted her teeth in concentration and silently started a countdown in her head, waiting for the right moment to finish her movement.

A couple of seconds later, as her speed increased anew in her fall, she brought the tip of her spear back downwards, in a wide slashing motion. The blade sliced through air as it sped towards the shadowy stump of bone between the 'shoulder' and the neck of the Angel. The pilot's mind was in turmoil as she put all her will in her attack, trying not to fail. The mass of titanium screeched aloud as it finally found its mark, embedding itself in the body of the messenger of God...

...Only to be ripped out as a limb shot out of the tornado and smashed right into the stomach of the landing Eva, just before its legs hit ground. The shock sent the mechanic flying away, its armor shattering in places because of the massive concussion. Asuka grunted as the bio-electronic sensors picked up a massive feedback from the waist region, immediately translating it into pain for the pilot. The wind was immediately knocked out from her lungs just as she tried inhaling - causing her to gag in the murky LCL-filled environment that was the interior of the Entry-Plug. Things did not go any better as her Eva was two seconds later sent sprawling away, falling painfully on its back. "Damn it!" she cursed in Bavarian slang, clearly enraged by the reaction of the Angel. Three hundred meters on her left, the purple guardian that was Unit 01 restarted to hack the Angel apart...or at least in theory...as once again artillery shells displayed their ineffectiveness against the black-and-white monster. "Railguns are useless! I need more firepower, Misato!" shouted an unsettled Shinji that started to feel the seeds of panic bury themselves deep in his soul. Memories of previous Angel missions rose back to his mind's eye, remembering him of the pain felt and the deaths deplored. _It's happening again...I can't let it happen again...not after..._

_"Shinji, I'm sending you an artillery rifle - take it, quick!"_ screamed Misato over the garbled comm. network.

Shinji retreated slowly, dropping his now-useless ESAR and replacing it with a M41A3 XARL - a forty-meter long thick barrel equipped with an armored grip and a large exhaust duct on its rear end. He snapped the safety switch off and depressed the trigger again, causing the XARL to erupt in flames as a LOSAT-2 missile streaked away towards the Angel. He continued to drown his target with other rounds just as Asuka restarted to sprint towards the Angel.

_"LOSAT missiles are useless - MAGI System doesn't report any visible damage on the Angel's body."_

"Activate the SHIELD system and activate the closest weapon towers to the target!" ordered the Operations Commander as she watched her two charges trying to hold the Angel at bay with little results.

"SHIELD activated - full combat mode initiated," announced a technician as he brought up a diagram showing multiple weapon platforms activating, rising from their deep electronic slumber, promptly snapping back to attention, answering the call of war. "Eighty-five percent active...ninety-two...all platforms accounted for! Weapons are warmed up! We're sending the target data right to the fire control systems. Download in three seconds - real-time update linked to the data stream. Ready to fire."

All around Tokyo-03, above hills and buildings, inside towers or around roads and walls, rocket launchers, railguns, heavy machine guns and other close-in weapon systems rotated on their mounts, slowly bearing themselves on a lone target that walked unfazed at the horizon. The SHIELD system was ready to open fire.

"FIRE!"

* * *

"Argh!"

Shinji grunted as geysers of dirt and soil suddenly shot up skywards in front of him - the result of a massive artillery volley fired from the outskirts of the attacked city. The shockwaves caused his Eva to stumble backwards and to momentarily lose eye contact with the Angel. As he turned his head right, he saw countless flashes lighting up the outer buildings of the manmade citadel - cannons wildly firing and missiles ripping out of their launch canisters towards their target. Hundred of smoke trails adorned the dark sky of Tokyo-03, as LOSAT-2, Hellfire, Javelin and SPLAV rockets tore through the air, hitting continuously the gigantic being, covering him in smoke and bright orbs fire. The successive explosions interfered with the walking tornado, distorting its tubular form and bending it outwards, causing the airflow to ripple erratically and the subsequent winds to howl in all directions.

_"We're passing through the eleventh degree of the Beaufort Scale! Wind is over 150kph and still rising!"_

Inside Tokyo-03, 70mm automated machine guns, 140mm long range ET/C cannons and 155mm rapid-fire howitzers thundered endlessly from their retractable mounts, pummeling the battlefield with hundreds of shells whose power would put at shame World War II military engineers by the amount of their sheer power. The rumble of the multiple detonations was enough to deafen anyone in the near vicinity of the hit area as it implacably rose to its apex. On top of the city's towers, walls shifted apart, revealing missiles silos that erupted into showers of flame as the SPLAVs and TOW-3D missiles screamed away - setting the sky aglow with the horror of a microscopic war.

SHIELD was waging a full war against its enemy.

* * *

"Damn it!"

Asuka suddenly found herself in the center of an artificial hell, with a sky suddenly alive with thousands of supersonic projectiles that tore through the air with the sound of ripped linen or inhuman screams -all bent on hitting their targets. The first explosions broke her momentum, the first blasts sending her Eva careening away, tearing her off-course and sending her to tumble into hard ground.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" she screamed as the SHIELD system showed its true power - pounding the ground all around her in a cold-blooded attempt to bring the monster down, with an electronic determination. _"Asuka, get out of there, you're right in the line of fire!" _came the scratchy answer from the headset-mounted loudspeakers. _"Link back with Shinji and hold your position!"_

"Damn it, couldn't you have waited ten seconds longer and at least WARNED me BEFORE going all out?" she yelled back, willing her Eva to get up back on all fours, keeping a low profile to minimize the chances of being hit by a shell or other projectiles - even though her mechanic was wearing an extremely thick and resistant armor suit that would make nuclear fallout shelters blush in shame. _"There's no time, Asuka. We must make due with what we have, no matter what." BITCH!_ she raged mentally. _How dare you?_ As soon as she regained a bit of her equilibrium, she left the battlefield in a hurry, once again defeated by Mankind's enemy and betrayed by her peers. _They always have to fuck up when I get close to winning!_ she raged inwardly, her heart badly stinging. As soon as her Eva stomped away towards Unit 01, the intensity of the shelling doubled, in a mock attempt to wreck up the entire landscape. Ten kilometers west, thirty self-propelled M109 howitzers sent off a volley of fuel-air explosive (FAE) rounds, lighting the air aflame around the Angel. Soon, the moving tornado became a whirlwind of flame. Unit 01 continued to fire away with its XARL rocket launcher, but it soon made itself clear that it was a completely useless gesture.

"Hurry up, Asuka!" Shinji called, as Eva Unit 02 joined up atop Hill 408.

"I'm here, idiot!" she answered irritably, clenching her hands in rage around the butterfly joysticks. She turned back to the battle zone and gasped at what she saw.

Complete devastation.

"God in Heavens..."

* * *

"It's fascinating how Mankind never learns" he murmured under his breath, looking at the scene shown by the LCD screens. "Even in fifty centuries they haven't learnt to never anger the ones that dwell in the heavens. Yet they always scorn them and finally end up drowned in woes and terrible ordeals."

Gendo Ikari smirked under his two hands as he observed the two pilots come to grips with the new situation. Seated behind a command pad, the almighty Supreme Commander of NERV watched as Destiny fulfilled itself, ready to step in when the moment would be right. "That would one of our most inerasable traits - our knack to get in trouble when we pride ourselvesfor our so-called wisdom. Not that is an endearing trait but rather one of the nails of our coffin. Our bane." He focused on the blurry image of the Angel, watching his progression and reflection on its apparent nonchalance, knowing well that behind that apathy of his hid a terrible mind, one that would not wait long to wipe out all of Humanity in a great apocalypse nobody would ever be able to think of. "Yet, that is only one in a million. One wise man said one day that what characterized Humanity was its ability to love. He either must have found it very convenient or self-sufficient or he just forgot to put in the list our ability to hate, to steal, to lie, to hurt, to kill, to pride and to lust over things of mean worth." His eyes narrowed. "And each time, we must pay for all of these curses. Our flaws. The things that make up our identity. That make us human." Gendo Ikari glared at the messenger of God and continued his own monologue, as if unaffected by the disasters around him and the lives being spent in an endeavor to get rid of the Angels. "You, denizen of Heaven, you might find it ridiculous - or downright pathetic - when we banter endlessly over the right to kill innocents for the greater good while life is made of things much simpler than that, more worth of our attention - but we revel in it. Even if those traits are chimaeras that need to be slaughtered even if we must die in the process, we found our reason of existence in it. To wonder over the complexities of life and overcome them, whatever the price. To rise higher than we are, till we reach our lost place in the land of peace. Eden."

He reached over the command panel and positioned a finger over a single, red-colored switch, ready to flip it on. His smirk grew larger.

"The ends always justify the means. All that count are the results."

He glanced up, taking in the form of Unit 02, who was drawing its spear at shoulder level, and closed his eyes.

"And coming back to Heaven is well worth the sacrifice of our humanity. Our last remnants of purity."

His finger entered in contact with the little piece of plastic with a muffled _click._

* * *

Asuka drew in a deep breath then sprinted forwards, leveling her progressive spear horizontally, the blade-tipped end slightly pointing skywards. She then drew her arm backwards, feeling her muscles tense in anticipation, preparing for the thrust. At that moment, she plunger her Eva's metal-shod foot into the ground, blocking her short run, before finally hurling the weapon towards its target. "Take that!" The projectile hurtled towards the dark form of the monster before finally hitting home...

...Or at least in theory...

...For a mere second before impact, a brilliant flash sent ripples of light to spread through the spinning vortex of dirt and smoke...

...Before, in a loud noise, the spear crashed into a sudden brilliant wall, its blade shattering against the translucent surface and causing the handle to fall into pieces on the ground. The artillery shells that _bang_ed away around the target met the same fate milliseconds later, as they hit the same force field, no more allowing them to enter in contact with the skin of the forty-story high creature, causing them to detonate in mid-air against an immaterial shield that glowed orange. The octagonal form of the A.T. Field shimmered under the clouded sky, lighting the dark landscape aglow with yellowish hues. "WHAT?" shrieked a familiar German redhead. _Thwarted, again! But why won't you go down? Why, why, WHY?_

_"The target's A.T. Field has gone active. Fully expanding - holding out. First energy output estimation is one hundred ninety-seven point six million kilowatts and rising - A.T. Field level is nine point eight. Level ten will be breached in twenty-three seconds. MAGI estimates that the 'wing' appendages on the target are the source of the disturbance and act like field transmitters."_ announced a technician. Asuka glanced back and saw the outline of the protective shield, shining among a field of darkness. The immaterial wall seemed to waver for a moment...

...Then, without a warning, startling everyone, inside and outside the City, rushed forwards, soaring straight towards the two Evas.

Dirt blasted away around the Angel as the energy projection expanded at an impressive rate, shoving outwards particles of matter- creating showers of soil kicking up straight to the sky, forming like an artificial, moving arena around the gigantic being.

The two Eva pilots gasped as they saw the incoming threat, instinctively raising their own fields to minimize the shockwave. Both mechanics dropped to a crouching position, trying to hold on as much as possible to the ground and not be pushed off their feet by the rapidly approaching shimmering wall. The two teenagers mentally and physically braced themselves, dedicating their last ounce of concentration on resisting the attack. Finally the expanding A.T. Field met the two steel behemoths, in a shower of sparks and electricity bolts, as the mass of energy slammed straight into those of the purple and red guardians - creating a conflict of powers. The three shields crashed into each other, their opposing forces hell-bent on repelling the others.

The Third and Second Child grunted as the shockwave passed over them. The strain became critical as a new force imposed itself on them - one of a less material nature. The three A.T. Fields clashed altogether in a brilliant display of light and flashes, the interference causing the three force-fields to become visible to the naked eye and brilliant orbs to appear around each of the three giants. One could readily see the orange waves rippling through each globe as the different harmonics disagreed with each other, some of them even superposing on the other, creating an escalation of force to materialize between the three antagonists. The ground around the three warriors started to shake as pent-up energy desperately tried to escape from the even battle, not hesitating to transmit itself through matter of all state - gas, solid or liquid. The wind screamed around as it reached a level never seen before that day, as the tornado took on biblical proportions. In Tokyo-03, however, things were going critical as the combined power and its side effects rose to a new apex: missiles were running off-course, deviating from their laser- and radar-designated flight paths, some of them either embedding themselves in the vicinal landscape or even landing straight in the outskirts of the city - digging craters and ripping small constructions apart with a deadly frenzy. Electric lines were disrupted in showers of sparks, the cables ripping themselves from their masts and mounts and whipping wildly in the madly shifting air. Shells either collided with the A.T. Fields or were steered off-course by the wind - bringing more and more destruction to land on the heavily scarred hills of the Kanto region. Overhead, lightning bolts were flashing, bringing a new dimension of horror to the unreal display. On the southern side of Tokyo-03, two buildings trembled on their foundations as their metallic skeleton frames finally gave in to the vibrations they were submitted to. Glass panes, pipes and metallic plates began to tear apart, detaching themselves from their rivets, exposing the innards of the constructions - that is, before the metallic support beams inside started to rumble with a frenzy. Two minutes later, the two skyscrapers broke apart, their debris falling to earth, burying the nearby streets and smaller constructions under tons of shifting metal, broken concrete and plastic.

"Grrrrr..." groaned Asuka as she willed Unit 02 to stand against the Angel's protection field. She could already feel the ground beneath her shaking with the force of a small earthquake, as the waveforms of the three fields naturally combined and eventually cancelled themselves together creating a sort of 'physical void' between the two sentinels and the walking terror. A high-pitched hum rose from the battlefield, like a dirge of sorts, its tone skyrocketing dramatically. Finally the two pilots had no other choice but to clasp their hands over their ears as the noise morphed into that of a deafening scream...

...Before leaving place to utter silence.

* * *

"What happened?" screamed a puzzled Misato Katsuragi to the techs before her. Ten seconds before the holographic screen was displaying a breath-taking battle, showing three giants pushing at each other through orbs of light and energy, a fight apparently without winner nor loser. Then, with a great flash that blinded most of the onlookers inside and outside the subterranean complex, all force fields _vanished_, leaving nothing but air and smoke between them as reminders of a now past struggle.

"It seems that the three fields went into harmonization - they eliminated each other by synchronizing their own harmonics and the diphase must have canceled both waves! Current readings show the fields radiating at level one point zero two, standing. Expansion rate: nil" said Aoba as he scanned through multiple windows on his command panel.

"The air pressure is coming back to normal - anemometric readings are falling by 10mph per second - current estimate: 104.22mph"

"What does that mean?" asked Misato at Dr. Akagi, who was looking at the screen with a worried frown. The scientist turned to her friend, then back to the scene before her, not knowing if the new development was good or not. After all, the battle had not been concluded yet and everything could happen in the meantime, turning back the tables for the worst. "It...seems...that we have canceled the storm by getting rid of the A.T. Field."

"So it's safe for the Evas to attack now?" the purple-haired major replied with hope in her voice. Akagi bit her lip, not knowing what to think. "Theoretically...yes."

_"Great!"_ came the voice of Asuka Soryu Langley, a clear tinge of frustration and ire floating through her tones. Behind the two officers, Sub-Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki bit his lip, the slight change in his demeanor unseen by the staff whose attention was solely kept on the holo-screen. _Now is the moment of truth. Ikari was right when he said those new Angels would be more difficult to vanquish...but how much will we have to pay for victory and freedom? We've already destroyed five children and countless lives since Second Impact. It's hard to believe that it was only a foreplay -a prelude to a greater drama, played on the greatest scene - our world. Our destiny now holds in the hands of a single, broken, individual. Just what we needed. A situation only a madman would imagine of. And only a madman would instigate._ The cold, smirking face of Gendo Ikari came back to life. Behind him, Rei Ayanami, clad in her white and black plug-suit, watched on with her custom, apparent look of indifference.

"Men invent deities to comfort and legends to frighten themselves. It's really depressing that our end should come at the hands of our so-called creation."

Rei said nothing but the slight narrowing of her eyes betrayed her seeming obliviousness to the world around her.

* * *

Thunderous footsteps shook the nearby hills as once again a murderous-looking Eva Unit 02 charged at a still Angel, clearly intent on assaulting him. _I hope this time they will not get 'Gunfight at K.O. Corral on me!_ she snarled mentally as she kept her eyes dead set on her target. As she ran at breakneck speed towards her goal, the left shoulder casing of her mechanic snapped open, and a slim container tilted forward, revealing the grip of her faithful Progressive Assault Cutter. Her right hand flew towards the tool and wrenched it out, ready to slash it around. She was rearing her arm back, ready to thrust it forward as she approached the monster, when suddenly the 'eyes' of the forty-story tall being began to twinkle. The Second Child blinked in dread and her eyes widened when she saw the two pitch black holes in the 'head' lighting aglow of their own accord. Training and hard-gained reflexes kicked in, forcing her to dive on her left, off her course...

...Just as a double beam of light sprung forth from the Angel, hitting the place she had just vacated mere milliseconds before. Rocks and dirt were instantly transformed into overheated plasma, their expansion causing a massive shockwave to blast through the air. Asuka landed on all fours as she reconsidered a new assault plan. She steadied herself with her hands, unconsciously took the position of a sprinter then once again took off, barely evading another particle beam shot from her nemesis. Behind her, Shinji cursed as his line of sight was obscured by the red giant, preventing him from sending another LOSAT-2 volley with his XARL. Seeing his comrade-in-arms and fellow teammate in difficulty, he dropped his heavy ordnance weapon and ran over her position, drawing in the meantime his own armor-defeating Progressive Assault Knife, ready to go again into close combat, a type of fight he came to fear and detest because of the proximity with his enemy.

Two hundred meters in front of him a deadly dance took place, with Unit 02 skipping around in order to evade the deadly energy shots from the celestial being - placing her in a very delicate position as her maneuvers prevented her to go offensive and only put her in a defensive stance. Cat and mouse. _What is that idiot Shinji doing, damn it?_ Out of the corner of her eye, she took a glimpse of the berserker state-capable Unit approaching at a dead run and saw in this new development an opportunity to bring the Angel down. Teamwork reflexes came back to life as she blasted her way around the Angel, forcing it to keep her in sight by staying close. In the Geofront, Misato Katsuragi couldn't but commend the tactics used by her charge - her last maneuver had allowed Shinji to go in right in the back of the Eighteenth Angel as it kept firing on Unit 02, forcing itself to turn around and thus keep its back to Unit 01.

Shinji, of course, saw there his chance of ending his battle. With a sharp intake of breath, he drew his knife high above his head, ready to bring it down between the shoulder blades of the Angel, somewhere near the spinal column. Technically, it would cripple it or just kill it outright, if those accursed beings still submitted to the universal laws of biology and anatomy. In a purple blur, the two hands sped downwards, put into motion by sheer determination and a part of hate towards those harbingers of death. For the Third Child, things suddenly went different to his own perceptions - as if time slowed to a snail's pace. He could see his two fists inching towards the flesh and bone, just between the two wing-like outgrowths...

...The blade shone merrily, as if rejoicing in the prospect of drinking new blood...

...Slowly, but surely, the piece of metal neared the back of the monster as once again it fired another energy beam at Asuka...

...And, as the knife came at but inches close to contact...

...Once again, the Angel shot his arm in a wide backwards slashing motion, its clawed fingers catching Unit 01 in the head and pushing his arms aside. Eva Unit 01 fell hard on its side and Asuka couldn't but watch in horror as the two eyes of the Eighteenth Angel started to shine with a deadly glow. The final blow was ready to be brought on the Third Child.

She sprung forwards, her cutter-wielding arm held high, ready to finish the monster off on her own. In an explosion of dirt, Unit 02 found itself airborne anew...

Only to find out that her last move was but a deadly mistake...as the Angel was not completely facing Unit 01 and still could see what she was doing. The head of the monster snapped towards her, eyes painfully bright - heralding another attack. Asuka's eyes widened in horror as she realized her error and already foreseeing the consequences. _Shit! He got me!_

_"Asuka! Watch out!"_ came the warning from HQ, a little bit too late.

If not WAY too late.

* * *

Debris of metal and high-resistance polymers and ceramics fell on the ground in a cascade, soon followed, milliseconds after by bits of torn flesh and steaming drops of blood.

The body of Unit 02 seemed to suspend itself on mid-air as a mass of gore exploded from its smoking chest - the armor plating having been mere seconds earlier blasted away by a double beam of raw energy. Soon, as if the charm had ceased to exist, the titanic mass answered the late call of gravity and slammed back on the ground, in a shower of rock and soil, surrounded by smoke and the mist of battle.

"ASUKA!"

Shinji screamed in terror as he beheld his fellow pilot being hit point-blank by the Angel. His cries of desperation and worries only grew louder as he watched the behemoth land back on earth, eagle-sprawled and unmoving. Implications and doubts ran amok in his mind, riddling him with ever-hideous possibilities that he didn't want to think off right now. Memories of Rei blowing up herself in an attempt to save him from the Sixteenth Angel came back in a deadly, powerful wave against the lone frail rock that was his sanity.

"NOOOOO!"

Bits of static shot up around him from the loudspeakers, like a requiem.

_"...Lost all connection with Unit 02."_

_"Last known vitals were in the red zone. Current heartbeat and blood pressure readings are unknown..."_

_"...Looks like there's massive damage to the chest, in the higher abdomen. MAGI estimate a level two incapacitation."_

_"Unit 02 is combat ineffective and gone silent. Entry-Plug data off the airwaves...waiting for..."_

_"Pilot status?"_

_"...Unknown. All contact lost with the Plug...antennae seem to have taken a bad hit..."_

_"...First diagnosis show a level three body penetration. Ribcage is slightly open...breastbone status is unknown - most probably broken - same thing for the organs; estimations are pending. MAGI reports a high risk of heart failure or lung hemorrhage, as well as widespread trauma...laser systems are scanning the Unit for further analysis. Search and rescue team forty-eight dispatched onsite..."_

Those sentences flowed over him like the flames of a sudden hell, burning him to the core, tormenting his soul to the extreme.

"ASUKA!"

The Entry-Plug around him suddenly grew cold and dark.

* * *

"Oh my God, Asuka!" wailed a concerned Misato Katsuragi as she looked at the fuming body that was Eva Unit 02. She could see the breastplates split apart, their borders jagged and half-melted from the massive burst of energy. Smoke was gathering around the prone form of the titanic guardian, masking its waist and upper part of the body from view. Even infrared and thermal vision systems were useless as the only thing they would get from the battlefield was one huge blob of heat that was the smoldering carcass of Unit 02. All around her technicians and officers were feeding the command staff with various reports, all of which sounded like a grave's epitaph to her.

"Tell Unit 01 to continue the attack, Major, we can't afford to lose time!" came the grave voice of the Sub-Commander, snapping her from her mental laments. "As soon as the target is neutralized we can get the SAR teams to the Eva. We can't allow the Angel to get away alive."

Misato took a deep breath then straightened out, under the sympathetic look of Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, who was peering over dozens of LCD screens, trying to get Unit 02 back online. "Shinji...you need to get the Angel down. Shinji?" she asked.

No answer came.

"Shinji...?" she pressed further, trying to elicit an response from the loudspeaker. A few seconds ticked by, and nothing changed. Technicians stopped their flow of shouts and other announcements, their gazes tearing off their electronic charts and screens up to the holographic display. The two Evas and the Angel were both unmoving, one because of the cruel laws of war and the two others looking like gauging each other, waiting for one of the two to make the first move...but some knew better...

"SHINJI!" she yelled, growing worried.

Silence was her only answer.

"You feel it, now, my son" smiled Gendo Ikari. His eyes darted to two monitors on his left, both of them live feed cameras from the Entry-Plug, from which he had a vantage view on his son's face. The look of terror was etched onto every line of his figure - eyes wide open, sweat beads clearly forming on his temples and forehead even with the presence of LCL, mouth agape...Shinji Ikari was now a visual embodiment of horror and pain. "Can you hear it? The call of war? Of revenge?" he murmured to himself.

His smile grew wider as his gloved hand grasped a slender microphone on the command pad and brought it close to his lips.

On the screens, Shinji Ikari seemed to have completely frozen, as if his body and soul no longer responded to the world. The Third Child's hands were tightly gripping the butterfly handles and his arms and upper torso were beginning to shake. Gendo Ikari took in the picture of his son realizing the new drama then shifted his gaze back to the displays under his nose. The psychograph was dramatically slowing and synchronization ratio was following the same movement, as the child's mind was beginning to shut itself from the world - the clear effects of first-degree denial and shock. Depression would come afterwards, along with grief. But those were of no importance now...and neither were they of consequence to the calculating, ever-scheming man that was Gendo Ikari.

He noted with grim satisfaction as the synch-ratio passed under the fifty percent bar and looked downwards to see the blinking light of the comm. system still signaling its active state. He flipped a blue switch, shutting the Entry-Plug definitively from the outside, blocking all _outgoing_ audio data from leaving Unit 01's plug but allowing only messages from the secondary command post to be given to the pilot's position.

His smirk stretched wider and wider.

With another movement from his forefinger, he activated the loudspeaker system in the Entry-Plug, immediately setting it to maximum.

His lips slowly parted as they formed a sadistic grin, just before...

...With utmost care for pronunciation and clarity, straight into the mike, he uttered a single word.

One that would change destiny.

Forever.

The password for the Heavens.

* * *

Outside, in the abated inferno that was the Area of Operations, a low growl pervaded the unnerving silence that reigned over Tokyo-03's hills. Unit 01's previously dull yellow eyes began to glow in an unnatural manner, as if fuelled by a fire lit inside...

...Heralding once more the awakening of a slumbering monster.

The Berserker.

* * *

_**To be continued...**_

* * *

**A/N:**

I'm deeply sorry for the delay, but I've got computer problems right now. As we are speaking, this chapter has just been uploaded through a friend's PC, not mine. My Windows 2000NT will have to be uninstalled and reinstalled. I'm even considering changing it to XP, but my major concern is free space on my hard drive, so... NGE: TBI is on currently on hold - I keep bumping my head on the next scenes as I seem to have skewered what I call the 'simultaneous actions and standpoints'. NGE: TBI examines the world of Eva through different points of view, much like everyone does nowadays - it's nothing new. But the way I wrote the last chapters sort of...set a barrier in front of me. Each character was confronted with major problems and I couldn't think of a way to get rid of them while still maintaining credibility up.

On top of that...university sucks. Nothing new, either - every alumni and current student in this universe will agree with me. You'll also have to berate me for my laziness and my constant lurking around for Harry Potter fics (a vigil that has turned extremely desperate since all of my favorite stories seem to have gone off the airwaves and their authors fallen asleep) and Gundam SEED Destiny episodes to download through Bittorrent. But don't blame it on HP either as I also keep on tripping over a certain scene in HP-ASIT's chapter 05. I'll upload chapter 10 of NGE: TBI in less than three days, though, to make up for my lame attitude. My last excuse is that I'm also fed up of fixing QuickEdit's quirks. All the double hyphens and certain symbols keep disappearing and words are fused together. Quite a tedious task.

All my apologies.

The notes here under are pretty much military, but if you are confused about things like ET/C guns and railguns, skim through them. I'm not forcing you to read them. Just look at note 03°) to learn about the Tacoma Narrows event. **IMPORTANT NOTE:** next chapter, you'll learn some important things or two. A couple of reviewers pointed out a thing or two, and I think the next installment of NGE: TBI will clear up a certain amount of misunderstandings. Or not. You'll just have to wait. Oh, and by the way, when Gendo said about that mysterious being that he 'was sitting at God's right', he wasn't talking about Jesus Christ - read the part about the Templars, Cathars and Constantinople. He's talking about something who has a LOT of importance in the heavens...that's all I'm willing to say. No, he's not an archangel or a seraphim either. He's higher than that.

Once again, sorry about this mess.

Life got over my head.

**Abi2301**

* * *

**01°)** The Austrian Steyr-Mannlicher Advanced Combat Rifle (ACR) is an actual weapon that was, indeed, never adopted by the U.S. Army even if the Department of Defense (DoD) eventually ordered tests with the prototypes. In fact, the ACR program was meant to study multiple rifle designs in order to bring out higher lethality out in the battlefield. What was sought was to find a weapon that would score a hundred percent hit probability improvement over the Colt M16A2 rifle's current capabilities. Since none of the models tested throughout the late 1980s reached that mark or went higher than the set lethality level, the whole ACR program and its designs were frozen and all results, schematics and production rights are still held by the American Department of Defense (DoD). However, some models are worth being noticed, like the one proposed by Steyr-Mannlicher. The S-M ACR is different from its counterparts by its basic ammunition, which is surprisingly not conventional the 5.56x45mm, the 4.73x33mm or the heavy 7.62x51mm round but a 5.6x41mm dart - a design already tried by the failed, 1960s-vintage SPIW program. The dart is completely encased, much like the German 4.73x33mm (the rapid-fire ammo used for the G11 machine gun), and is 1.5mm wide and 41mm long, while being enshrouded by what is called a discarding sabot (a malleable shroud that is discarded during flight to maximize the projectile's velocity by reducing air drag since the overall diameter significantly diminishes shortly after the propellant's ignition) that is 5.6mm in diameter and enables the projectile to reach up impressive speeds - 1,450 meters per second (Mach 4,26). What is more amazing is the fact that at the 600m range (the maximum effective range for most rifles), the dart still has a velocity of 910 meters per second, which means a little below Mach 3 and still higher than most rounds' initial speed. The ACR is 765mm long and has a slow-rifling 5.6mm-caliber, 540mm-long barrel, fed by twenty-four darts held in a plastic magazine situated behind the grip. This 'magazine-behind-the-grip' configuration makes the ACR a 'bull-pup' rifle, according to the technical lingo. The American ACR program, even though it never came to fruition because of its true nature (just to test various designs and learn from their results), has spawned other projects that are close to completion and realization, like the XM29 Objective Individual Combat Weapon / Selectable Assault Rifle (OICW / SABR) and the XM8. Pictures and schematics of the ACR can be found on the www. world. guns. ru website in the 'assault rifles' section.

**02°)** VTOL: Vertical Take Off and Landing. The VTOLs are aircrafts mainly built to operate in areas where runways either don't exist or are impracticable. Since they cannot land or take off by using a horizontal run they must do it by descending or ascending vertically. Most VTOLs have either tilt-rotor like the American MV-22 Osprey or variable-angle jet engines like the F-35B Joint Strike Fighter or the AV-8B Harrier II. The second alternative to this problem is the use of the STOL aircrafts (Short Take Off and Landing) who either have high output reactors, specially-shaped wings or variable-angle jet engines whose exhaust gasses can be deflected downwards or skywards to change the progression vector and propel them faster into the sky. VTOLs and STOLs are sometimes very appreciated when it comes to landing on an aircraft carrier, since the traditional way is extremely delicate, dangerous and highly stressful for the pilots. In 2009, Mitsubishi and Lockheed-Martin developed a joint program called the Tactical Assault Craft (TAC), designated F-44A _Oni _in Japan and A-38D _Mongoose _in the United States. The TAC was adopted by the United Nations Quick Reaction Force (UN QRF) three years later after a two-year long competition against the outdated but still reliable Russian Yakovlev Yak-141 and subsequently NERV for their anti-Angel operations. It is also called the 'Bullfish' because of its strangely-shaped tail, its long, narrow fuselage as well as its blunt, squared nose.

**03°)** The Tacoma Narrows bridge was destroyed the 07th of November, 1940, because of the wind that blew at a certain speed at that moment (18mps). Since most of the metal frames were riddled with holes in order to reduce weight, the whole construction behaved as a sort of resonance box and its vibration frequency rose well over its natural one. Longitudinal vibrations soon began to harmonize with the transversal ones, since both natural vibration levels were pretty much the same - making the bridge start to sway and distort lengthwise and widthwise, a rather impressive sight that would make some believe that it wasn't made of steel and concrete but of rubber. Eventually, the bridge broke apart in its middle, and the two parts fell in the river beneath. Fortunately, all drivers that were on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge were able to evacuate their vehicles in time and the only casualty recorded was a dog that didn't get out of a car and ended up some forty or fifty meters beneath in the river stream.

**04°)** The PBXN-103 is the explosive used in the warhead of the American Mark 48 Mod. 05 ADCAP (and the future Mod. 06) antiship/antisubmarine torpedo and is also known as 'Torpex'. The electromagnetic gun is still in study but during the Star Wars era (1980s, Reagan Administration) plans were made to create enormous space-based cannons that would use that concept for orbital artillery shelling. That type of particular weapon is called a 'railgun'. Recently, The U.S. Army's Watervliet Arsenal has created the XM291 120mm-caliber cannon, specially designed for the United States Army's FCS light tank demonstrator that uses electro-thermal/chemical theories to increase shell penetration, speed and power, by using electrical pulses to ignite the cartridge and 'modulate' the propellant's detonation - thus increasing its power by focusing it forwards. The LOSAT (Line-Of-Sight, Anti-Tank) is a high-speed missile that was originally intended to be mounted on M8 AGS tanks but was instead relegated on modified M998 HMMWV (Humvee) trucks. The LOSATs can reach up speeds up to Mach 5 (6,000kph) and pierce every type of known laminated or composite armor, even those used by the most heavily protected tanks. The secret of its high lethality resides in the fact that it doesn't have a warhead - thusno explosives - but contains a long, titanium rod that behaves like a javelin upon impact. The LOSAT, in short, destroys by brute force -by making the armored flanks of the target collapse onto themselves because of the collision with a Mach 5 projectile. The remaining propellant powder in the missile's body can then act as an incendiary weapon, setting fire to the vehicle's inside, especially the gas tank and unprotected ammunition. A smaller version of the American LOSAT exists, though still in concept, under the name of Kinetic Energy Missile (KEM) and is intended for smaller vehicles as well as infantry squads.


	10. Chapter 10: The Hidden Warrior Walking ...

**Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Beast Inside**

**Written by abi2301**

**Chapter 10**

**v.01: 01/08/2005**

**Official disclaimer:**

The Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series are the intellectual and material property of Gainax Studios, ADVision, Inc., Shonen Ace magazine, Hideaki Anno and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. All rights reserved. 'NGE: The Beast Inside' is a purely fictional series based upon the original NGE and written for entertainment purpose only. No money is made out of it.

* * *

**Chapter 10: _The Hidden Warrior / Walking Through The Gateways To Gehenna_**

_Do your duty, and leave the outcome to the Gods._

**Pierre CORNEILLE, _Horace_ (1640) act 2, sc. 8**

_We pray for peace,  
But not the easy peace  
Built on complacency  
And not the truth of God._

**Alan GAUNT, _We pray for peace_ (hymn)**

_Waste of Blood, and waste of Tears,  
Waste of youth's most precious years,  
Waste of ways the saints have trod,  
Waste of Glory, waste of God,  
War!_

**G.A. Studdert KENNEDY, _More Rough Rhymes of a Padre by 'Woodbine Willie'_ (1919) 'Waste'**

_All that is human must retrograde if it does not advance._

**Edward GIBBON, _The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire_ (1776-88) ch. 71**

_

* * *

_

Dull brown eyes turned to blazing crimson.

_Unfathomable horror turned to unabated rage..._

_...And familiar uncertainty turned to newfound determination._

_In the artificial womb that was the Entry-Plug of Unit 01 the main asset of the organization known as NERV a single word, or yet, more precisely, a name rang out through the murky life-sustaining liquid named the LCL. As soon as it reached the ears of the being sitting in its command throne, hidden mechanisms of sorts started to turn at an alarming speed. Unknown to the beings outside that monitored the status and doings of the combat staff, a new process was being born. No one knew yet that what had just happened was a perfect example of a chaos theory phenomenon known as the Butterfly Effect: a very little event that would trigger a series of greater ones, that would have much bigger consequences and importance._

_In the fevered mind of the Third Child, Shinji Ikari, it seemed as if the gates of time had opened wide, pouring forth a torrent of images and feelings previously alien to him echoes of the past and memories of eons forgotten. He saw, flashing in front of him, eras where Man had to sacrifice their own people to communicate with the Gods, where brutality walked along with savageness. He saw towers long since destroyed rising from the murk of the past, shining anew in the blazing sun. He saw men scampering across grassy hills, running after their preys...before visions of old Babylonian cities appeared from thin air. He could behold the tower of Babel in all of its mighty glory, reaching towards their skies in a desperate attempt to build a path towards Heaven. He saw seas parting and continents crumbling, towns burning and skies smoldering suffering the anger of the Ones that dwelt in the lands of peace._

_He could see beings of light soaring through the air, mingling with mere mortals, as if no boundaries existed between them. He saw green vales laden with trees and plants of all sorts, with animals of species uncounted wandering hither and anon. To Shinji Ikari, the feeling of loss and regret was clearly evident as he watched those scenes running through his mind. Times lost forever, destroyed by the folly of Man. An empty throne appeared in front of him, laden with jewels of impressive size and purest gold. He could feel the aura permeating from the object, yet he saw nothing between the diamond-covered armrests and the finely decorated seat. He knew that something was sitting on it. Something of tremendous power, one that he could neither understand nor imagine. One whose influence stretched farther than Man could ever comprehend. He was kneeling in front of God, he realized with awe and fascination. He recognized the area and the settings, as if it reminiscing an old, deeply buried memory. He had been there a long time ago, years so many he could not remember ago. As he realized it, the vision faded, replaced by others, more disturbing than ever. He saw churning rivers and sparkling streams, shimmering waterfalls, all of them drowning in a whirlwind of colors and feelings that he could not fathom for they were too numerous and too intense for him to get a hold of them and process them individually. In a part of his mind, he also felt recognition eliciting a word from his tired and breaking soul._

_One he desperately longed for._

_Paradise._

_Eden._

_He could hear whispers in a language he could not comprehend the inflections fair and terrible, the tones sooth and sweet and the accents full of peace and wonder. Yet he understood their meanings, as if an unknown being was translating them for him. He knew what they were talking of. The voices grew louder as the imaginary light around him receded. Darkness grew and the visions wavered, as like a little flame in a billowing wind. _

_Then all hell broke loose. He saw flames licking the skies, and shadows stirring from the ground, twirling like a vortex, destroying everything in its path. Forests were turned into ashes and cities thrown into ruins, peoples were chased from their abode or downright killed. Dead bodies of various forms littered the landscape, as torrents of blood seeped from the hills and poisoned the once pure rivers that adorned those sun-filled lands. He saw beings of darkness swarming through lands like a wind, spreading death and destruction in their path. Wars flashed in front of him. Civilizations falling, countries burning, conflicts unending...the apogee of a golden era, followed an excruciating decline that claimed countless lives and forever banished the hope of a perfect life down into the endless void of oblivion and fatality. The Rebellion of the Mighty. The War of the Higher Circles._

_The Great Fall of the Morningstar._

_Memories. Those were memories._

_But not _his

_Yet..._

_...He could not but feel a wisp of familiarity, as if something inside him remembered them, raising from a deep slumber up to the path to awakening and awareness._

_As he made that last reflection, Shinji Ikari sensed something stirring deep down in the innards of his soul, his very soul. A sense of dread and longing arose, followed by determination and a feeling of separation, of imprisonment slowly breaking. The barriers of his essence were fading. It was as if he was melting from the outside yet burning from the inside. Feelings and opinions that were not his thundered through his mind, causing various thoughts to flow through his vanquished psyche like a stream that would never abate. His vision slowly returned as the outlines of the Entry-Plug came back to his sight. They were blurred but he could clearly see in front of him his own hands clenched around the butterfly handles as he trembled from fear and horror. The smoking body of Unit 02 was sprawling in front of his own Eva, still unmoving, the grisly scene of the nearly ripped open chest sending tremors through his spine. Muscles tensed and nerves were set to fire as he took in the scene in front of him. His pupils narrowed to cat-like slits, as his irises turned CRIMSON. His jaw snapped shut as he recognized the wisps of anger stirring in his innards._

_His gaze tore itself off the eagle-spread form of Unit 02 towards the standing figure of the Eighteenth Angel, who, surprisingly, had still not made any attempt to attack Unit 01 or even budged Time having seemingly suspended itself. Silence reigned around him._

_Faintly but surely he could hear it, thumping in his body and hammering his eardrums: his own heartbeat, each muffle _thump_ rising in intensity as milliseconds ticked by. His face burned up as red-hot blood blasted its way through his dilated veins and arteries, heightening his senses and feeding him with billions of sensations. His brains seemed to be set afire as the throbbing in his brain grew stronger. He could feel something rising from the inside of his mind, breaking its restraints like a maddened beast freeing itself from its cage. His mind faded...just as his eyes bore into those of Za'amiel, the Angel of Whirlwinds, the one that molds the winds into a fearsome weapon that can wreak havoc on hapless lands and people. He recognized him, as one of his master's followers and most faithful servants yet he sensed deep within him a hatred that could shatter mountains by its sheer intensity. Enemy. The word came back like a leitmotiv. He was an enemy._

_As his mind finally gave way to the being that tore its way through the Third Child's mental control, a low growl rose from the throat of Eva Unit 01._

_The Berserker was loose._

_And the doors of Hell banged open._

* * *

A long time ago lived a people somewhere near Scandinavia, one that belonged to the Norsemen community. Its members strongly believed in the power of Nature and thus revered greatly those sprung from that mighty being, mother of all things. They particularly adored one of those creatures one whose strength was said to outmatch any other living beings': the wild bear. Animists by nature, they nourished the belief that the power of those animals flowed through their skin and stayed there even after death, along with their soul. They soon took the habit of wearing great mantles made of bear pelts, believing that they could draw strength from that vestment or armor of sorts and use it to fight in battle with greater efficiency, eliciting fear and dread from their enemies. In their own culture, the spirits of those animals then took abode in the bodies of the warriors and possessed them, rendering them fearless and invincible, imparting them with the insanity of a wounded bear. Bloody battles and horrific victories fueled that belief - making those fighters the most feared warriors in the lands of the Norsemen. Rituals and strong religions only served to secure that truth in the heart of many men. It is now also believed that that small piece of history is the source of the werewolf legend, as originally, traditions and other superstitions said that men who wore coats made of wolf fur would take the form of these blood-lusting animals and adopt their behavior. It was only centuries after that the 'bite of the wolf' appeared to complete the circle and make the earlier traditions disappear in the everlasting fog of History.

Those men, who hacked their way through battles with bloody axes and spears, were called the Berserkers - the men with _bear shirts_.

The word berserk, which came from the Icelandic words _bern_ (bear) and _serkr_ (coat) meant 'mad', 'furious'. 'Enraged'.

As centuries flew by, 'berserk' took the meaning of 'out of control', 'maddened'. The old word 'berserk gang', after all, simply meant 'anger' or 'rage'. But its original essence was still there, to bring the testimonies of the past to the last generations of men.

Other legends pictured the Berserkers as very quiet, laconic individuals. Some said that they could also be shy or taciturn. For others, they seemed unnaturally calm. Yet, when they were in danger or in battle, they would sort of...snap...entering a deadly frenzy that would render them cruel, powerful and above all, merciless. Unbeatable. A warrior hiding beneath a complacent, silent and deceptive disguise.

People throughout ages in European and North American territories had linked the howl of the wolf in darkness with tales of horror and superstition. The mysteries of Nature made such matters extremely appealing to the darkest parts of mind, most of all raw fear and fear of the unknown. The wolves being predators - even though they only attacked men when they were hungered for a reason or another and couldn't find either a sheep or a calf to feed upon - popular beliefs transformed them into soulless monsters that ripped innocent people apart with as much as a blink of the eye. Stories written through Middle Ages only aggravated the truth and what was made of it - that those beasts were evil and a reincarnation of the forces of darkness, lurking in the shadow and longing to rip the entrails out of children and women. Movies and novels made matters even more worse, as coincidences and shadowy events like the Gévaudan Beast Case took place aside them in a campaign to draw an evil picture of those beasts.

The howl of the wolf thus became the symbol of evil forces at work, hidden by the curtains of the night.

Yet there were things that were even more frightening.

Those beasts were known by Man yet feared.

What would happen if the thing one should fear most was something that was known to the world as innocent or incapable of harming people around? What if the so-called, proverbial beast was not what it seemed, but disguised as a lamb?

Or more exactly, something restrained for so many years, thought tamed yet still uncontrollable? Shoved deep inside a cage of sorts and held there for a long, agonizing period - let there to skulk until the hour of its release?

It would be worse than what one could ever imagine.

Like a angel of welfare suddenly turning into a demon of havoc.

In Tokyo-03, the beast inside once again awoke.

* * *

The jaws of the beast cracked open, the metal restraints finally ripping away by the tremendous strain. Out of its mouth came, low but powerful the scream of rage from a monster that stayed locked for years. Its teeth glowed red, as a roar shot from its throat and blasted away, shattering glass panes and windows in a two-mile radius. The earth beneath even shook from the bloodcurdling shockwave, and bits of dirt and rocks flew away as if recoiling in fear. The beast threw its head back and howled again - anger and bloodlust clearly evident in its tones. To the military personnel around the hills of Tokyo-03, some even related it to a war cry - a call for battle and blood.

The eyes of the behemoth dangerously narrowed to slits, a red hue permeating from them.

Unit 01 was going berserker once again.

The beast suddenly fell in a crouch, falling on all fours like an animal, its eyes never leaving the still form of Za'amiel. Its muscles bulged with great cracking sounds, as armor plates were ripped out of their flesh-embedded mounts. A ripple traveled through the hunched form of the Eva, like a wave of barely restrained power. The technicians down in the subterranean complex known as the Geofront could see the fracture lines spreading through the metallic suit, causing multiple debris to detach themselves from the tensing mass. Eva Unit 01 roared again - as if reiterating a warning of sorts against an opponent that had not complied to his earlier threat. Za'amiel, this time, made a movement - taking a step back as if flinching from the inhuman call. For a moment, it seemed to drown in indecision as the angelic being stayed frozen in place, one leg pulled backwards for a second step, clearly hesitating to either attack or flee from the awakened warrior.

Unit 01 growled loudly and began to advance, slowly regained a standing position, yet with arms hanging in a threatening posture. Claw-like fingers slowly rose to chest level, as if the mecha longed to rip the throat of its opponent. Once again, Za'amiel recoiled. Something was obviously amiss.

The howl of the Berserker tore the air.

* * *

"What is it doing?" whispered a frantic Misato Katsuragi as she watched the beast make its way towards a retreating Angel. No signs of hostility could be seen from the latter, as if it hesitated to attack its enemy...a gesture seemingly not reciprocated.

"Shinji?"

The loudspeakers only gave her silence as an answer. Worry and terror drove recklessly down the lanes of her heart, spreading her mind with a sense of dread, an eventuality she dared not consider. She had seen this seen a dozen times before if not less and each time it had turned into a massacre whose effects were hard to make disappear, as they not only left physical signs of their existence around them but also embedded themselves deeply in the soul of those who had beheld that particular occurrence.

"SHINJI, ANSWER ME!"

Unit 01 growled.

"Sh...Shinji...?"

Behind her, Sub-Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki repressed a sigh as he acknowledged the new development. The hands of time were spinning faster, as Gendo Ikari had predicted. A new step in their fate had been made, yet he found no comfort in that realization, as the implications of Eva Unit 01 going Berserker often brought dire news and problems along. _So we've crossed the forbidden boundary - the last one. We called upon HIM. The Faithful yet now a Traitor. And we dared give him shelter in the form of a broken being. Yui would've been cursing by now - it was always hard to anger her, but I'm sure she would have snapped had she come to know up to which extent we have gone to secure our place in Heaven. But is she angry, now, in her vessel?_ His eyes turned back to Unit 01, as if trying to recognize something not blatant to common sight. _Or is it merely HIM?_

"Is it...is it...?" stuttered Misato as she turned towards Ritsuko Akagi who had the same look of horror-filled fascination plastered on her face. She pointed a shaky finger to the holo-screen, indicating the purple demon.

"It seems to...Maya, what is the status of the Entry-Plug and the command nexus?" she snapped at her protégé, who dove back to her command panel, hammering buttons and switches, browsing through countless windows and activating an equal number of diagnosis programs, live update databases and I/O sensors. Her eyes widened as she scanned through a chart and fell on one particular reading. Her breath caught before she murmured...

"...Unit 01's pilot is still in full control..."

* * *

Up in the command platform that towered above the operation bridge, Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki let out a sigh full of resignation. His shoulders fell as if a sudden weight had fallen on them just as his musings took a defeated tone.

_So we finally succeeded - he has awakened Him._

_The final link._

Behind him, the blue-haired Rei Ayanami stared, her eyes slightly wider, at the screen, her eyes boring into the image of the purple guardian, as if recognizing something that shouldn't be there.

_Ikari, what has happened to you? Your soul does not feel the same anymore - how could such a change occur to you?_

The slight change in the demeanor of the First Child, even if nearly undetectable to the unwary eye, however does not go unnoticed by the second-in-command of NERV. Fuyutsuki's worries were just justified by a quiet, withdrawn girl. No words were spoken yet a message beyond all type of communication just passed between the two.

_Even Rei sensed it._

_The final link, the last restraint to our condition is now awake._

* * *

In an explosion of dirt, Unit 01 sprinted towards its enemy, rage written all over its body. Before its opponent could even take a step back or bring up its arms in protection, the Eva lunged forward, catching the Angel by the throat, the momentum nearly sending the two sprawling away. Stress lines appeared all over the cartilage-covered skin, as the two hands closed with deadly determination. Za'amiel shuddered in pain and brought its claws around Eva Unit 01's forearms, trying to break off its grip but the gesture seemed to have no effect on the purple guardian, who still continued to choke the life out of the monster.

The eyes of the metal-suited warrior narrowed in ire and a deep growl came forth, just before, with great speed and in an obvious display of anger-increased strength, the guardian lifted the Angel off its feet, brought it over its head then slammed it back down on the ground, driving the head of its opponent deep below surface level. A cloud of dust surrounded the two, causing officers and technicians to squint in order to keep sight of the two combatants. Blocks of rocks could be seen scattered all over the battlefield, surrounding a small crater, pockmarked with smaller holes, courtesy of NERV's missiles and artillery shells. The entire area was unrecognizable.

Eva Unit 01 brought itself above the fallen being then lunged forward again, driving its armored fist into the bone-shielded chest of the Angel. The breastbone cracked apart, merely slowing the progress of the alien object inside the innards. With a roar, Unit 01 started to pummel the life out of Za'amiel, as if taken by a sudden frenzy. Punches landed over the prone from, shattering bones and limbs, while feet hammered away on vital areas, attempting to squeeze them or make the skin burst apart. Growls and screams of pent-up furor accompanied by sickening crunches and wet sounds permeated the battlefield, signs of an anger released and an ordeal at work. Fountains of blood rose towards the sky with each blow, just as bits of gore flew away, torn from the opened thorax, from which vitals could easily be seen. A single black, battered arm tried to rise from the ground but Unit 01 caught it deftly, before starting to pull at it. Soon, with a ripping sound, the limb was torn out of its socket, making the Angel scream in pain. The purple mechanic threw the limb away before returning to its grisly work, not hesitating to tore organs out of their cavities, squeezing them with its bare hands before severing them from the rest of the body.

* * *

"...I'm going to be sick," moaned Maya Ibuki as she clenched her hands around her mouth and tore her gaze off the screen. Even though she was a brilliant technician few could ever rival, she was not gifted with a hard, calculating and indifferent persona. Just the opposite. It was quite surprising that such a methodical individual had chosen to join a military-grade organization in disregard to the scenes that she might have to witness. She had chosen to enter the U.N. because of its _nec plus ultra_ technology and research centers, hoping to find in there a place where she could put her intellect and knowledge to Mankind's service. And she had not failed to her endeavor. Two years after hard and fruitful labor in a biological complex near Munich, in Germany, she had been drafted by the newly born U.N. NERV, and more precisely its bioengineering division, which requested employees that had great experience and promises in that particular field. Unsurprisingly, she was one of the few select that were relocated to the Geofront and Tokyo-03. She found in there, in those top secrets programs like Project E, her own paradise, reveling in the challenges and mysteries of nature, knowing in a part of her mind, that she was contributing to that pagan god named Progress. But she was not military material. A firm believer in justice and sparing of life, she knew she couldn't bring herself to open fire on a human being, as she knew the effects of a bullet on this frail and deceptively strong organism. And the sight of a living being being disemboweled alive instantly made her guts turn into jelly. "...Good Lord...but how...could it...eurgh..."

"Shinji?" Maya Ibuki's eyes darted to her left, falling on a white-faced, red-clad individual. Misato Katsuragi.

"Once again..." murmured Ritsuko Akagi, knowing better than anyone that the events occurring outside were as much the doings of a divine being as the consequences of her actions. If only her old friend knew the answers to her own quandaries...

She wouldn't forgive her, this time.

She had grown to care for her charges like a surrogate mother, pledging a silent oath to keep them out of harm's way even though she knew that it was her and their destiny to run straight towards danger and death. It wouldn't be long before she would crack. But what would finally break the slowly disintegrating dam that was her resolve and sanity, she didn't know. Hopefully, it wouldn't be the loss of a dear one, like former Special Agent Ryoji Kaji.

"Shinji, stop! Stop it! SHINJI, STOP IT!"

Misato's hands were gripping the railing, as if holding on for dear life, making her knuckles as white as a sheet of paper. Her cries echoed without an answer inside the command center, the begging of an individual towards a storm that wouldn't hear and wouldn't stop.

* * *

"The hour of our freedom is coming," proclaimed quietly Gendo Ikari. "He has been awakened and freed for the first time."

He looked behind him and gazed at the empty cage, his eyes focusing on the thick rails that hung on the far end wall, where the Evas were normally kept restrained, half-pinned to the hangar itself. His eyes fell on the murky, red-colored liquid underneath, called the cryostasis. The freezing liquid, for some, had the exact consistency and look of freshly split blood, even though it wasn't as thick and sticky as the life fluid itself, a side effect of its alkaline nature.

"Soon, Yui, we will all be free from our mortal bounds and on the path to everlasting bliss. Soon."

* * *

Unit 01's rage seemed to recede for a moment as the mechanic rose from its hunched position, observing the limp form at its feet. Red eyes searched for a sign of life but found none but a slow heaving of the torn chest, the remnants of a life shattered away by the anger of a divine being, a lord of destruction scorned and claiming revenge.

The head of Za'amiel turned slowly towards its nemesis and the pair of warriors locked gazes.

Pain could be seen in the eyes of one.

Fury in the others'.

Unit 01 bellowed to the skies, screaming its anger to the entire world and proclaiming its victory. The ground rumbled under the air waves, the vibrations rousing them from their still state.

Za'amiel's eyes widened for a moment as if filling with horror...

...Just before a faint gleam appeared inside the black bottomless voids they were...

...A gleam that rapidly turned into a brilliant glow.

* * *

Inside the Entry-Plug, a lone being sat at its throne, dictating the new course of Fate. Through its crimson pupilless eyes, the world appeared as a kingdom, over which he had the right to govern, and to beget life or death on all those that dwelt or stood on it. Its features looked like that of a stone mask, for they were eerily unmoving, giving a unnerving impression of lifelessness and inhumanity. No words were uttered, yet messages of sorts seemed to flow through the artificial womb, as if carried by invisible wings.

Open violence could be sometimes more meaningful than a thousand rousing speeches.

And unabated cruelty spoke loudest of all in those times of turmoil.

He was in control.

He knew what to do for his path was written in the stars. He could readily read through those fields of diamonds the secrets of time and tales of old, last remnants of destroyed eras. All that would make the future and that made the past were written all around him, deeply chiseled in the features of Nature, but so subtly that no one saw them. In the Antiquity, oracles and diviners predicted future by the sounds of leaves, the flight of birds, the form of the moon and even by merely looking at the entrails of a freshly sacrificed lamb. Those people, who were thought to communicate closely with the higher beings called gods and spirits, could only see a facet of this arcane language while a greater majority of them usually made up predictions to impress commoners and instill respect in them, securing their place as a new source of decision and power in society. Very few had the true gift and even Raziel, the Angel of Mysteries who wrote secrets and lore in that great book of his in ciphers unheard-of, had trouble with it.

He sensed the orange fluid shift around it, the mere motion telling him more about the world around him than a few words would ever do. It was as if Nature itself spoke to him, in hushed tones, like a hidden confidant.

After all, hadn't he, eons ago, helped create it?

It was normal that he would share such a closeness, a deep bond with that ever-elusive yet omnipresent, mysterious entity.

He recalled those times, where Men walked among beings of light, mingled with them and even had offspring of those unusual unions. Those last individuals, of course, were cursed by the Almighty to suffer for those actions and were banned from the lands of peace, to dwell forever back, with their descendants on the half hell that was the land of the beings known as Lillims, the sons and daughters of Lilith the Cursed, the one who forsook her husband, her soul mate because she didn't want to fall under his dominion.

Those were tales that were as beautiful as they were sorrowful.

He had lived through them. He had seen those events taking place and had even taken part in their accomplishment, for some of them.

His crimson eyes focused in front of him, on the prone form he called enemy. His head hung for a moment, just as his eyes closed a clear sign of regret and remembering, a highly unusual gesture from that normally unfazed being that not even Armageddon could make blink in surprise. _You were seated in His entourage, ye holy and faithful Za'amiel, yet you chose to carry out the tests. You openly chose to defy me, even though you stayed in His service, our greatest pride and happiness. You should be commended beyond reckoning for that honor, yet you should be cursed for standing in my path and scorn me. Hurt me. Kill me._ Under the pangs of dark hair, two orbs of flame opened, boring deep into the bloodied face of Za'amiel, checking for signs of aggression.

_You made a choice, brethren, but for everything must a price be paid, even if it is in blood._

Voices rose around him, like a chorus. Whispers turned into muffled screams, filling the Entry-Plug with an eerily noise that went crescendo. Among them he found one, full of pain and regret. _Why do you stop me in my mission? Why do you endeavor to thwart His designs?_ The being remained silent a few minutes, closing his eyes as if in thought. _You wouldn't understand. His designs stretch farther than one would ever imagine. Even our realm of understanding is not great enough to grasp the full meanings of His plans. There are more ways than you think. Everything must not end the way they are seemingly destined to be._ His lips didn't move a iota but the message got through, like a whisper in the spectrum of existence. _How can it be? The Lillims have to pay for their crimes! They thrive to force the gates of the Land of Light open, forsaking their own humanity, the last remnants of their purity all along! They are no more pure; they aren't worthy anymore to even set eyes on the Fields of the Light. How can you choose their side and go against His will?_

The being's eyes narrowed dangerously. _I have not forsaken my loyalty towards Him. I know where my allegiances lie. They are to Him only. My commitments nonetheless are more general that you would ever know; they are to make sure His will is carried out and to give a chance to those worthy of it. To give them what we don't and will never have: freedom of will. We are bound by Fate. We cannot interfere, that is, of our own accord. We must obey to the call of Destiny, no matter how terrible it is. I have not overstepped my boundaries, merely chosen my own path to put His designs to fruition. Tabris, the Free One, was the only one among us to fully get a grasp of that concept it is a pity that he had to pass away at the hands of the mortal I am currently living inside. As I said, you know nothing of how life works. You are not one of the Elders, Za'amiel. I trusted you to understand the subtleties of life, yet during all those eons we have gone through at His side, you still have not seen the truths behind the walls that are responsibility and choice. You are the thrall of your own illusions._

_You are drowning in madness!_ screamed back Za'amiel, its divine voice laced with anger and hate. _Those cavils are an insult to our existence and duty. __I will not allow you to go against His will. I will carry out His will the way He has said us to do so!_ The Angel's voice echoed sinisterly inside the Entry-Plug. In the being's mind, regret left place to resignation and resignation to determination.

_Then I will erase you._

He looked back up, tearing his gaze off his clenched hands and saw the eyes of the battered monster begin to light up in a mortal glow.

_There are more than one path to a single destination, brethren. It's a pity you have never understood that._

* * *

"We've got energy readings rising from the Angel!" shouted Aoba. "They are converging!" On the black screen in front of him, white lines like the radiuses of a wheel seemed to gather towards an imaginary center. The words 'inner torus reactor' flashed brightly over the panel, just as a white blob appeared in the middle of the display. "It's going to fire!"

"What?" yelled Misato, whipping towards the long-haired tech. She had witnessed this scene a long time ago, during the Fifth's first assault. Shinji had just emerged from the launch pad when Ramiel had decided to go on a killing spree and take down any potential enemy with its particle cannon. Eva Unit 01 had suddenly found itself hit in the torso by an energy beam that had nearly torn off the whole ribcage, without giving the mechanic a chance to free itself from its locking bolts and find some cover. Shinji still had some nightmares from that particular experience. Without waiting for her subordinate to repeat his assessment, she turned back to the screen. "Shinji, get out!"

Behind them, Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki merely quirked the corner of his lips, neither smirking nor cringing. _Time to show your power, holy one._

Rei Ayanami remained silent but a tinge of confusion stirred inside her crimson eyes.

* * *

Inside the two holes in the middle of the rotund, bony face, not only stood the organs called eyes but sinewy outgrowths that curled around the two orbs like eyelids of sorts. Those organic rings were made of a supraconductive matter that housed a high-temperature fluid that most scientists would compare to a plasma: a white-hot, highly ionized gas. Except for the fact that that colloid, which contained low-resistance metal bits like copper and lanthanum oxide, was maintained under a high pressure so that it would stay liquid and would not lose its power by being allowed more space to expand. Behind those strange, extremely unusual organic complexes stood an intricate nerve network, whose end was directly linked to the 'rings'. When Za'amiel's brain commanded its body to let loose another particle blast against his enemy, a flow of negatively-polarized energy ripped through the nerve channels and entered in contact with the positively-charged colloid. The electrons inside soon found themselves imparted with more energy and settled for a higher orbit around the atoms they were endlessly circling. But after two or three milliseconds, the little nucleons fell back to their original energy, relinquishing to their environment the force that they were given a scant millisecond ago. That release was followed by a discharge of luminous particles known as photons.

Inside the two rings, the metallic matter in suspension amplified the energetic concentration, transforming the torque-like recipient into a cyclotron of sorts, only that it didn't accelerate matter through an electromagnetic field but only pure light. The organs were, in short and in comparison to human technology, behaving like lasers. The photons rebounded endlessly against the inner walls of the circular tubes, before hitting nerve points that were ended by crystal-adorned outgrowths. The transparent beads collected the light and amplified it by changing its frequency, before sending it back to loop-shaped tendrils that behaved like fiber optics. The energy was brought to a point behind the eyes of the Angel, where it started to build up, before it was finally let loose. The insides of the ocular orbs were filled with a transparent, nearly-solid fluid that had the same consistency as crystal and gelatin. The waveform pattern of the surge changed, before it hit the crystalline lenses, the mass of energy reforming itself into a perfect beam.

The Angel's eyes flashed as the two particle beams shot up from those black wells, speeding towards their goal, the madly grinning face of a purple demon.

Time seemed to stretch unnaturally, as if the laws of physics had suddenly distorted the space-time continuum between the two beasts. As the combat staffs looked on, they could perfectly see two threads of light inching towards the armored behemoth, threatening to put an end to its existence...

Just before, as if Time had suddenly regained its original state, a glowing hexagonal barrier appeared out of thin air, just in front of the two beams.

The ensuing detonation caused once again the battered earth to soar towards the skies in solid-state geysers, as the shockwave spread outwards in a raging rush, but in the Angel's direction only, as the Eva's A.T. Field prevented the blast from trespassing the artificial boundary. Za'amiel's body suddenly found himself staring back at a mass of energy, the very one he had let loose milliseconds earlier. The barrier, in front of him, didn't even waver, unfazed by the show of power.

The mass of concentrated of heat expanded, finally hitting the giant's body...giving its owner the premises of the torments suffered in the place called Gehenna by the ancients.

Hell.

* * *

The holographic screen flashed red, just as multiple spotlights placed on the left and right sides of the command tower lit up, filling the control room with a blood red light. Alarms started to scream as the image displayed by the gigantic rectangle of synthetic glass drowned into static. Several technicians yelled in surprise and others in fear, mere seconds before the rumbling came - a slight vibration that was more felt by the individuals manning the upper tiers of the tower because of its height. "We've got damages on the outer layer of the Geofront's armor plates! We're losing contact with the integrity sensors in the forty-eighth sector of the upper dome!"

"ABADDON reports a 238 increase in heat in sectors thirty-one to fifty-nine! The ground is melting overhead!"

Fuyutsuki frowned then leaned forward, gripping the edge of the railing. "Set the shock compensators to maximum - they should keep the shockwaves at bay. What about the city?"

"We've got damages to armament towers twenty-six to thirty-two and a dozen more buildings. Two heavy-duty elevators aren't working and two Eva emergency doorways to the Geofront are stuck. There's a power outage on four automated defense complexes - landlines were disrupted. SHIELD system is partially disabled in the area of operations. Full extent of the damages is unknown," reported a nameless tech, looking at a MAGI System update.

Misato found her military self returning to full status as she heard herself mutter. "So we've got our pants cut down in that area. Great. Just great."

"Airwaves signal is dropping - we've got major EMP interference. MAGI System is switching to the landlines!"

"Integrity sensors are at orange alert in the forty-eight sector and its periphery is edging on yellow - shock dampers are yielding! We've got leaks in the hydraulic feed tubes, fourth network, forty-ninth sector. Contact lost with the forty-eighth!"

_Damn! It's worse than I actually thought!_

* * *

Just beneath the two titanic combatants, the world suddenly found itself reduced to its most primitive state: a infinitesimal amount of matter in a great volume of vacuum. The energy ball that formed on the surface of the fully-erected A.T. Field volatilized everything in its path, as it expanded exponentially, reaching to its world's confines in a desperate attempt to spread around and blend in the surrounding environment. The orb of pure heat and power grew at an impressive rate while its outer temperature level reached that of the sun's surface billions of Kelvin degrees, the ball of flames engulfing both frozen beings in a matter of milliseconds, just before the explosion reached ground level and began to devastate everything it entered in contact with. The very state of the touched atoms radically changed on both macroscopic and microscopic scales - turning from 'solid' to 'gaseous' in a hundredth of a second. Rock was turned into ash and billowing clouds of evaporating magma, while the shockwaves caused the nearby landscape to quake and rumble, messing the underground's stratification.

Ten meters beneath the surface, the first of the twenty-two armor layers of the Geofront's outer shell suddenly found itself privy to the disintegrating action of a mass of pure, hot-white energy that dug further downwards, driving its way through the protection plates. Ceramics, titanium, carbon and reinforced concrete disappeared in a blink of an eye, while the exerting pressure started to distort each five-meter thick layer, pushing them downwards - and causing multiple metallic reinforcement structures to either snap, bend down or crumble before succumbing, too, to the incoming wave of boiling plasma. Thousands of wires suddenly found themselves severed - thus cutting entire connections throughout the Geofront - or badly shake them. The hydraulically-commanded shock dampers finally gave in - their pressured fluids leaking out of the massive tubes, pushed backwards by the tremendous force. Even the water tanks set between every three layers failed to contain the shockwave as it sped downwards with unchanged determination. Electronic boxes broke down, creating dozens of emergency shutdowns in the upper levels of the Geofront and consequences that worsened NERV's current state. The monorail that shuttled between Tokyo-03 and Central Dogma was torn off its rail, as the whole construction was ripped of its suspension cables - causing the massive beams to become airborne and rapidly falling downwards, towards the lake. The 'collapsible' buildings that hung from the subterranean complex weren't spared either by the wave of destruction, as the resonance effect also made itself known to the suspended towers - the titanium frames surprisingly becoming mangled despite their legendary robustness, resulting in the destructive fall of multiple commercial complexes towards the vicinity of the HQ pyramid.

With rending crashes, the thousand-tons masses impacted on the artificial forest, creating wide craters and sending tremendous vibrations to spread through the underground Central Dogma. The shockwaves ripped through the ground - causing more damages underneath, mostly landlines and other constructs that caved in, under the instant pressure. Gas lines even erupted, before safety seals isolated the canalizations from the rest of the area, thus sparing the neighborhood from further devastation. An enormous dark cloud rose from the grounds, nearly hiding the pyramid from view and quickly spreading around thanks to the air currents that shifted the inner atmosphere and helped regulate the local micro-weather. Overhead, were four enormous 'light wells', as the city's designers called them, huge tubes filled with heavy prisms and massive optic fiber networks, that helped bring light down in the 3-kilometer wide cavern, after being redirected downwards thanks to tall, towering mirrors that also acted as photovoltaic cells and thus provided additional electricity current to the nearby NERV installations. Those 'lights wells' were now filled with a blinding light, a testimony to the hell that raged outside. The whole cave-like construction lit up as if in plain daylight.

Throughout NERV, alarms wailed urgently, signaling an emergency lockdown of the whole complex. Non-critical employees abandoned their posts and set out for their division's or team's gathering points before heading off to the deepest-dug shelters. Two entire sectors were then deemed by the MAGI as 'unsafe', a situation complicated by the sudden loss of information from the concerned areas - as the communication networks had gone down due to hardware failure. Even the authority figures assigned to the evacuation of the work crews found themselves at a loss as of what to do and how.

Disorganization seeped through NERV.

And high above, in the center of the blazing inferno, a being found its existence rapidly being obliterated by its own power - the otherwise indestructible organic matter reduced to a mass of cinders by the orb of fire. In a heart-wrenching shriek and a blinding flash of light, the Holy one, great among the greatest, the Angel of Whirlwinds, disappeared from all planes of existence.

Za'amiel, faithful warrior that fought against the rebellion staged by the Morningstar, was at long last vanquished.

Eradicated.

* * *

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" Misato chanted to herself, her swearing becoming to her own opinion, an understatement to what was occurring at the moment above them. As the bridge shook with enough force to send some unsuspecting technicians sprawling to the ground, the overhead lighting flickered just as the holographic screen fizzled out for a scant second, before returning to its previous blank state. Red screens with the word 'ALERT' written in capitals over them flashed angrily through the entire room, while sirens screamed their message of fear all around, like a song of death. "I want a level three emergency status declared on the upper levels and a level four on Central Dogma - I also want an damage assessment right now, along with a list of every area that is either off the waves or offline, and I want it now!" she bellowed, gripping the railing tightly, holding on for dear life. The battle was turning worse by every passing second. _What was that saying again? Ah yeah, to fall from Charybdis into Scylla. To fall from one evil into another, maybe worse._ "AND GET ME THE BATTLEFIELD ON SCREEN AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!" she concluded her orders.

Behind her, she could hear Maya Ibuki screaming her terror while holding her head between her gripping hands, falling to a fetal position due to her belief that the whole ceiling would could down on her. Looking around her, the worried purple-haired Commander of Operations saw other individuals adopting the same behavior, some of them even flinging themselves under their desks or command panels to find shelter.

A dozen meters behind, an old Kyoto University professor found himself gripping the command tower's railing, while bearing a wry, almost resigned smile.

"I'm definitely too old for this."

_Goddamn you, Ikari. Your madness will lead us to our own destruction! Leaving such an unbridled source of chaos fight around without even complete control can really be compared to having a desperate death wish, if it already isn't a redundancy_, he corrected, smirking at his own pernickety nature even when in harm's way. _But what is done is done._ His eyes narrowed._ We can only hope for the best, even if it only is but a fool's hope._

"...Ikari..." murmured Rei Ayanami while gazing at the still-blank screen, as if seeing something invisible to the individuals around her - a statement in which, surprisingly, resided a small part of truth. Her eyes were slightly widened but her extreme expertness at keeping her composure prevented her from showing any more signs of her unsettled state of mind. Strangely -though it was not much of a surprise to some people who knew what to expect from her - she turned out to be the only human being in the whole room that managed to keep itself on its feet without needing to hold on something near.

Nature something bestowed the strangest of gifts to the strangest of people.

But nobody knew if that was a good or bad thing...

...For overhead, another individual, sitting inside a liquid-filled tube, could have proved it to be more a curse than a blessing.

* * *

Hell.

As people often asked themselves whether there was an afterlife, many beliefs sprung from that very critical interrogation. As a result, many assumptions, opinions and fabricated stories made their way through the population's culture, instilling them with the promise of a better existence, after lifethus spawning the myth of paradise. Religion fueled that new belief, as a means to get hold of the ignorant people and weapon to hold against them when they would go against the clergy's decisions or way of thinking. Excommunication was, eventually, a refinement of that sort of weapons against those heretics. Otherwise, even if the motive of control and dominion only existed in advanced civilizations and not in small, undeveloped populations, the theme of heaven existed a way to comfort oneself against the inevitability and mysteries of death. Gods, spirits and other types of deities appeared to frame the myth, completing the circle. And as some individuals said a long time ago, Men not only invented gods to comfort themselves but also legends to get scared.

In many religions, to one entity, state, power or aspect of existence existed an opposite. To the light was opposed the darkness, just as good was paired with evil. And with Heaven came Hell. The place where those who were unworthy of the Gods' blessings or were guilty of some crime were condemned to pay for their felonies for eternity in terrible tortures and unending suffering. Being banned from the house of the God(s) was just another way of being thrown in the pits of Hell. Hell, in some religions and cultures, was pictured as a flaming land filled with the cries of the damned and inhabited by terrifying scourges, demons, succubus's, incubuses, evil spirits, ghosts or unimaginable monsters that were the complete antithesis of those who were on the 'light side'. Demons were born along with the Angels - as Mankind decided that nothing could exist without a counterpart, an opposite that could completely negate the other and restore the primordial state of equilibrium in the universe. That black/white paradox was found in nearly all countries and continents, with the two forces being impossible to dissociate from each other - giving birth in the same moment to the yin-yang system. Either were part of the other, impossible to part.

A flaming land, filled with fumes reeking of burnt flesh and resonating with the cries of damned beings condemned to burn slowly in a world of pain, atoning for whatever wrong they committed during their past life...

...Hell had come on the periphery of Tokyo-03.

Like a devil surveying his darkness-filled kingdom, a lone being stood, sinister and majestic, among charred ruins, gazing over a prone figure, sprawled at its feet.

Eva Unit 01, its armor unblemished and untouched, appeared from the mass of twirling smoke, its maniacally-grinning face held high and its eyes blazing with reined-in fury. Around the forty-story high guardian, the air, already fuzzy with slowly dispersing heat, crackled with electricity, as the orange outlines of the force field came back into view, eliciting from an eventual onlooker the feeling of complete protection. Invulnerability. Winds howled around, as air rushed back in to fill the vacuum created by the explosion, causing the local atmosphere to shift dramatically and air currents to wash in a miniature tornado, kindling the remaining flames that danced around.

A low growl rose from the chest of the titan, before turning into a full-fledged roar that tore its way to the Heavens, like the roar of a lion claiming the property of a hunting area. The black fog that surrounded the Eva receded for a moment, as if recoiling in fear, making the battle scene come back into view once again for the world to see.

Where once stood a pockmarked hill, its erstwhile perfectly plane surface ruined by artillery shells and antitank missiles, now stood, or laid, a smoldering crater, the blackened edges pointing outwards, filled by various molten debris inside which could be discerned some manmade constructions. Where once had laid Za'amiel now resided utter void.

Curiously, behind the Eva Unit, the landscape seemed to have been spared from the destruction, as the A.T. Field provided it with a barrier of sorts, preventing the heat and the shockwave from definitively ruining the already wracked-up ground. Less than a hundred meters behind Unit 01 laid, unmoving and intact (that is, from the explosion), the prone, eagle-spread form of Unit 02.

* * *

_I am deeply sorry we had to go to this extent, Za'amiel. You did not deserve to end this way - your place was in His lands and not on this soiled world. Your fate was to continue your destiny at His side, to serve Him and love Him like we all do_, the being said, looking inside the crater, at the very area where the Angel of Whirlwinds had once laid. The entity that currently possessed the body of the human teenager otherwise known as Shinji Ikari, however did not show any sign of grief, merely choosing to gaze on with calm and a tinge of resignation. The words were not spoken for the pilot's lips didn't move at all - the sentences somehow loudly echoing through the LCL-filled Entry-Plug without the need of sound waves. It was as if the uttered thought was so evident that Nature itself spoke it back, each word visible in the world around.

Sitting in his throne like a monarch of old, Shinji Ikari folded his arms across his chest, and closed his eyes, as if in sudden concentration. _But what pains me most is that by refusing to hearken my calls to reason, you paved the path for those who will follow you. Therefore you condemned me, great among the greatest, who abides in the high chambers of His palace and who sits on His right side, to meet them all the way I met you._ Ikari's CRIMSON eyes slowly opened back, set alight with determination. _I will have to erase them all just like I erased you. For the greater glory of God and for the accomplishment of His designs._

His hands found their way back on the butterfly handles, the fingers closing around the pieces of plastic and gripping them tightly. The LCL suddenly shifted, as if something invisible was causing the fluid to move around, like a rising wind. Small crackles of electricity appeared around the pilot, eerily setting the whole 'cockpit' aglow. _Please accept my deepest regrets and condolences, my brethren, but I am now bound to Fate because of the bigotry of those who were supposed to protect His will and give them existence. I will have to fight you._

Memories of billions of years came flashing through the being's eyes - images of times forgotten and buried under the dust of history, of a war that had sundered an entire people and set a whole universe aflame and spilt more blood than any other conflict. The war against the rebels. Visions of a landscape drowning in darkness and torn by lightning bolts came unbidden, cut by pictures of beings running towards each others, swords, axes and spears held high before being hurled, swung or plunged around in showers of red. Light fighting against shadow. Continents crumbling in ruin, palaces collapsing under the weight of corruption and evil, towns burning in crime, populations dying, killed by the plagues of Hell. A world that would never be the same again. He recalled walking on battlefields, making his way over mounds of dead bodies, made either of darkness or of luminous ether. Rivers of crimson liquid were strewn across the world, as lives were spent for a war caused by greed, pride, envy and stupidity.

_Once again, we are torn apart. But united in our tasks and endeavors: the accomplishment of His will. I am sorry, my brethren._

His silent lament echoed through the polymer-coated walls of the Entry-Plug, eliciting no answer from the world around.

With a last sigh, one of a being finally releasing the tension in his mind and relinquishing himself to the soothing of peace, Shinji Ikari slumped in his seat, his body going limp for a moment, before starting to shiver. All around him, the video feed liquid crystal cells fixed on the fore end of the cylinder shimmered, the colors and outlines of the outside view blurring and ever-changing. The black, smoking hills around him disappeared, replaced by a miasma of colors and lines, of different pitches of the light spectrum, setting the whole plug aglow with a show of lights that would make a conscious onlooker to drop its jaw in amazement. Wafts of green, red and blue swirling around the boy, like waves crashing on a share, mixing together before twirling back again in an unending cycle. Lines appeared everywhere, filled with symbols long forgotten, eternally crisscrossing and meeting great circles full of cryptographs and runes - like a map of sorts. A map to a greater being. The drawing flashed for a moment, as if withering under an unknown power, before disappearing, leaving place to a single, glowing image: that of an inverted triangle, divided into two smaller triangles, with seven eyes on their borders. The seal shimmered for a second before, too, leaving the turmoil-filled Entry-Plug.

As if on cue, edged on by an unknown signal, Shinji's eyes went blank, the crimson irises fading to naught before becoming brown once again. At that moment, as soon as the transformation was solid, the shaking form of the Third Child tensed up, as if frozen in place by an unfathomable amount of pain. Every nerve of his body seemed to burn with a vengeance, wracking his worn-out brains with a suffering he never knew possible. Finally vanquished by that last blow to his mind, the teenager blacked out, his limbs falling to his sides, lifeless.

All around him, the sound of a massive heartbeat could be heard for a couple seconds - before silence abruptly took over, only slightly disturbed by the low hum of the life-saving vat built behind the pilot's seat in the bulky construction that housed the nerve connection computers.

Two seconds later, the blazing eyes of Eva Unit 01 lost their raging glow - just as the giant mecha slumped forward, shutting down at long last, its consciousness receding in the depths of its biomechanical body...until the next time.

The low growl of the Berserker disappeared in the wind, like the last warning of a departing savior.

The wind howled in response, the two sound being in perfect accord for a moment.

Then all that was left was utter silence.

* * *

"You served us well," smiled Gendo Ikari, staring straight into the darkened eyes of the silent Unit 01, a lone figure in the middle of destruction. His hands, gathered in front of his face lowered somewhat, unveiling his sinister-looking grin. A sense of dark satisfaction could be sensed through the small room, as the bearded scientist rose to his feet, shutting down the wall of screens in front of him. His hands danced on the keyboards, finally releasing the Entry-Plugs of its communication restraints, allowing the bridge to enter in contact with it. Shoving one hand in his pocket the one on which Adam was grafted and letting the other hang limply on his side, he turned towards the Eva containment hangar, stopping for a moment to gaze at the empty chamber, taking in the heavy silence around him.

He stared for a moment at the mirror-like surface of the cryostasis liquid beneath him, spotting his own reflection and looking at him for a minute. "All is going according to the scenario."

With that, he broke off his still position and strode over to the little elevator, stepping on the plate of metal and opening the command pad that stuck out of a safety handle beside him. He activated the device and pressed on a button. Two seconds later, with a small beep, the vehicle slowly rose from its position and started towards the ceiling, bringing the Supreme Commander of NERV towards his place of command the operations bridge.

"Your choice has been made, holy one. Whether you like it or not, you'll have to fight for us - and salvation will be ours. You're the Soul, just as he is the Vessel. With the Avatar in your hands, nothing will stop you."

He looked upwards, just as he entered in a small vertical tunnel, leading him to the command tower, gazing at the overhead lighting. Curiously, his travel of sorts couldn't but make him think of one he longed for - Ascension.

"Not even your creator."

His trademark smirk returned to him, as he devised the last turn of events, his mind already planning ahead his next decisions.

"God in His heaven, all's right with the world."

With that, he disappeared into the darkness, just as overhead, the commotion was coming to an end, and individuals coming back to their feet.

* * *

"Is that it? Is it over?" asked a frantic Makoto Hyuga, peering over the edge of his console, not daring to see for himself whether the situation had gotten better or worse. The other technicians were slowly getting back to their feet, fearing for some unknown reason, that the next attack might as well be the last and the one that would ultimately take their lives. The arrival of the Fourteenth, Zeruel, had badly shaken them, but this time had been scarier as it brought them with an additional feeling of insecurity and helplessness, probably fueled by the loss of Unit 00 and the deteriorating state of the pilots' minds. "My God" breathed Aoba, jaw hanging open at the screen, where the towering figure of Unit 01 could be seen. A resourceful member of the command bridge had had the idea of logging in the feed from a long-distance camera situated two kilometers away from the scene, which meant that the device had avoided the wave of annihilation - but not completely avoided it, as the picture was rather fuzzy due to the lenses being slightly deformed and out of proper alignment. The bridge crew had now an idea of what was going on outside. "...It's intact..." stuttered the long-haired tech, not believing that their unpredictable savior had somehow escaped the fate bestowed on his opponent, leaving the battle without a single scratch or even a square inch chip of paint scrapped off its armor.

"Unit 01's systems...report no damages. All readings green" announced a ghost-white Hyuga, his eyes darting left and right on his LCD screen. "...Eva Unit 02 is still offline."

Misato Katsuragi stood silent but was cursing in her mind as she found herself confronted with a dire quandary: should she feel happy, relieved, terrified or worried? There were times like this where she didn't know how to react, as it bode neither good nor bad for her. Shinji was safe, but the fact that he had snapped and somehow got berserk like the Eva she didn't even know if it was the Eva only who had gone mad or if Shinji still had, somehow, a notion of control on the massive robot and that alone was a reason to get dreadfully worried if not downright alarmed. Not only was he the pilot whose safety she had been entrusted to but also her surrogate son, even though she knew both of them would never really admit it. They would, probably, agree to a brother-to-big-sister basis but never to a son-to-mother, as the theme of parenthood was very sensible to both of them. Their makeshift family was already based on so shaky bases that she feared everyday, in the deepest recesses of her mind, to see it fall apart, after all the pain all its members had gone through to see that dream come true. And now, it seemed that a retake of somewhat fresh events was making itself known to her. Asuka was injured or ill and Shinji was nearly going mad. She couldn't believe it. It was happening, again. And again.

_You've said it before and you'll say it again_, whispered a nasty-sounding voice in her mind.

_Some things did change but others didn't._

Its reasons did not came to her immediately, but she suddenly felt numb, as if the world was shutting apart from her, leaving her cold and empty.

Her gaze, overflowing with an unspoken pleading for someone to prove reality wrong, remained fixed on the holographic screen, her eyes nearly never blinking and slowly filling with unshed tears. Tears of a hurt she was losing control over. That she was tired to bridle. Her mind was breaking apart.

Beside her, Ritsuko Akagi looked on, her mouth slightly open, also seemingly torn between conflicting emotions. A part of her mind was scientifically processing the latest events and first results and begged for more data input while the other was screaming in fear and was pleading for a way to get out of the hell she had thrown herself into. But, even before that, tearing her soul apart in sudden and terrible realization, a sense of pure panic came crashing down on her tired being. _What have I done, what have I created?_

Fuyutsuki's face reminded those who spared him a glance of a stone statue, as his features seemed to have frozen into place, betraying no sign of emotion - only a mask of remote care and deceptive, composed calm, almost solemn serenity. His hands, gathered behind his back, were however tightly clenched, in a vain attempt to vent off some of his frustration and pent-up anger. Ire directed towards his own former student and now superior. His protégé of sorts that now completely ignored his warnings and paid no heed to his own predictions. _You are bringing us to our doom, Ikari. The beast you are currently feeding from your hand will one day bite you, whether you believe me or not. It will not go as planned - schemes like this with such unknowns in its equation cannot be concretized without going out of hand. As Chateaubriand must have said it a while ago, one doesn't have power but the use of it. And it is but the illusion of power and not power itself._

His voice then made itself known to the other crew members, tearing them from their dazed state. "Make all recovery units converge on the scene - and I want the emergency state response teams scanning the Geofront for any sign of damages and commence the repairs. Alert level is to go down one notch."

The techs numbly nodded before going back the work, the noise level slowly coming back to normal after a long, uncomfortable silence, thankfully broken by the old man. The sounds of electronics finally retrieved its kinghood over the bridge, as the MAGI hastened its pace, restoring network connections with the rest of the sprawling complex, and radio messages flowed back in, flooding the cluster of communication officers with hundred of reports. Fuyutsuki looked downward, noting the recrudescence of activity before turning back to more pressing matters.

"What's the status of Eva Unit 01 and its pilot?" he asked aloud. "Do we have a link with the Entry-Plug?"

As soon as the words left his lips, a dozen officers dove on their consoles, typing furiously on their keyboards, reestablishing connections with the deactivated warriors. Outside, an enormous amount of radio waves suddenly tore through the electromagnetic spectrum, towards the slouched behemoth, before entering in contact with the multiple antenna arrays scattered all over its body but gathered mainly around the helm's horn. The coded signal were then sent through a first-degree relocation system, which acted both like a firewall and a router. The system acknowledged the encoded message and run it through a decryption program, which identified it as level one order. The router recognized the now decrypted message then sent it back towards the main control nexus literally the Eva's brains, where it was processed by the mix of organic matter and embedded supercomputers, before being transmitted back down the spine, towards the secondary nexus the input/output backpack set around the Entry-Plug cavity a mass of solid- and liquid-state electronics contained in the Eva's 'back hump'. The series of electric firings traveled down the gigantic nerves then hit the I/O port set in the back end of the Plug.

"We've got a response!" shouted a tech, raising his head towards the bridge. As soon as his message was heard from the senior personnel, a purple-haired Major went ballistic, running to the three 'bridge bunnies' to see for herself. "IS HE OKAY? IS HE WOUNDED? TELL IF..." Her desperate shouts were silenced by a hand clamping on her shoulder, jarring her from her frenzied state. The now-composed face of Ritsuko Akagi met her, compassion but firmness in her eyes. "Calm down, Misato. It won't help him if you started shouting."

"I'M NOT RUDDY SHOUTING, DAMN IT!"

"STOP SHOUTING!"

Misato Katsuragi instantly shut up, her face reddening, but the blond-haired doctor couldn't but discern if it was either of embarrassment, shame or anger. She knew she was pushing her over the edge and that she needed to blow off steam but having a crazy woman on your hands didn't do anything in your favor nor restored calm or peace. "Misato...just...let us do the job, okay? We'll do it the normal way, as best as we can, but don't start whipping us around, it will not do us any good," she said in a strong, quiet voice. The small nod she received from her friend was enough for her. She turned back towards the three technicians that were awkwardly looking towards them, as if expecting something. "So?"

Hyuga glanced back at his screen then faced his superior. "Firsthand stats show him in good state but the breathing and cardiac activity are under the normal level, but not beneath the danger margin. Nerve activity is close to null Pilot is unconscious, brain and thought patterns are in disorder, and decreasing. He's going into mental shock."

"Once again," muttered Ritsuko Akagi. She whipped towards the shorthaired technician, Maya Ibuki, waiting for her report. "Life systems are running at full power, we've still got six hours of energy until the safety pack goes out of power. Level three protocols are engaged first diagnosis show no body wounds or mental contamination but a full-sized examination should be carried out in the next twenty-four hours to ascertain the validity of those hypothesis's. Systole and diastole are in the safe part of the chart but heartbeat index has fallen by 08.64," the female officer replied, her hands flying over the keyboard at a quick pace an ability born of her constantly working with her mentor and the need to adapt to new abilities.

"What of Unit 02?" asked Fuyutsuki, as the dark figure of Gendo Ikari, unnoticed by the others, came back in the cavernous room. The old scientists greeted his erstwhile student with a silent nod, knowing that both of them would have a much more serious discussion later. One that would see many thoughts and opinions shared and fought over, in their eternal battle of wits. _Battle of wits my ass!_ Rei, for her part, remained silent, unmoving. Her eyes were still set on the high-resolution screen and her face showed nothing. However, to an eventual bystander, it was apparent that she was troubled by something that was way over her. In more than one aspect.

"Contact still not established. Search and Rescue division is now onsite they're waiting for the heavy tools to cut in the Entry-Plug housing extension. It seems that the emergency release devices were damaged in the Unit's fall" answered Aoba, keeping a telephone's handset close to his ear. "It seems that we'll have some problems hauling Unit 02 back to the cage" groaned the long-haired tech. "I wonder how we're going to manage it this time the whole area is fucked up" he added to his two colleagues, both of which shared a sorry look. Long hours of work were ahead of them, and the trio knew what it basically meant. However, their own thoughts were interrupted by the clinical voice of one Ritsuko Akagi, taking over her role. "Tell the operative onsite to open the emergency I/O ports and plug in the mobile antennas we'll have access to the Eva's stat system that way."

"Yes, ma'am! Right away."

"I hope this is going to be the last time such a thing will happen to us" muttered Ritsuko Akagi, mulling over the violence she had seen firsthand.

And deep inside her, she knew that it was a fool's hope.

Destiny never answered their calls, for a reason they couldn't fathom.

And she knew that that was bad news for them.

* * *

On the hillsides surrounding the sprawling metropolis that was Tokyo-03, gigantic panes of concrete started revolving on hidden hinges sliding down oversized rails, their removal unveiling large, gaping orifices that seemed to lead down to the very confines of the underworld. The sound of sirens could then be heard over the stirring silence, breaking the tension thickening in the air. The sounds of bolts and enormous actuators followed the wail, just as blast doors slid apart, leaving room for heavy vehicles and aircrafts to pass through the doorways. 'Bullfrog' VTOLs and other helicopters were rolled off on their takeoff pads and became airborne, like an endless swarm of locusts filling the horizon. In less than ten minutes, the sky of Tokyo-03 was thick with military aircrafts and the ground drowned with tracked vehicles that sped towards the battlefield.

The advance was, however, quickly interrupted when the rescue teams encountered the first signs of damages that littered the outskirts of the capital: truck-sized craters that had destroyed or critically damaged roads, forcing the ground troops to find a way around which was no easy task because of the way Tokyo-03 had been built. The Japanese love of precision and architectural sternness had proved itself to be a curse for NERV. Overhead, helicopters found themselves trying to fly through a mass of deadly turbulences a result of the air moving in at high speed to fill in the sudden vacuum and destroying the atmospheric structure in the area. The SAR squadrons agreed to maintain themselves in a staging area before the commotion would actually die down, allowing them to safely reach their destination.

The Operations Officers, as soon as they were made aware of the new difficulties, started to curse their bad luck. Their efficiency rate was now compromised because of Fate's fickleness and capriciousness and if they didn't find a way to deal with the obstacles put between them and their goals, the Pilots' chances to survive would dramatically drop down in less time it would take to pronounce the word 'dead'. They gathered around for a couple of minutes then decided to cover the remaining distance on foot. Medics and workers dismounted their armored vehicles and began to run towards the two immobilized Evas. A few 4x4s even managed to climb the craters and go beyond but they had to stop a hundred meters after, as the terrain was becoming more and more rugged and unfit for cars.

Two hours after, the Bullfrogs, their fuselage laden with equipment racks and carrying large cutting and removal tools, finally were able to hover above the deactivated giants, as SAR crewmembers hurried towards the Entry-Plug insertion points, using excavators to remove the 'protection hump' to uncover the back end of the white cylinder. In Eva Unit 02's case, the task could be deemed as easy, as the spine extension was close to ground level and thus quick to access but the same could not be said for Unit 01, as helicopters had to be used to rope paramedics onto the Eva's shoulders, so that they could enter the emergency codes to eject the Plug. Surprisingly, the behemoth didn't answer the Geofront's orders anymore. It was, as a technician put it, as if the robot had gone utterly...dead.

Fifty minutes after, two individuals were extracted from their seats and carried away in gurneys, one of them physically unharmed but the second sporting stigmata of her ordeals. As the Red Cross Bullfrogs took off with their charges inside their armored bellies, the workers onsite let out a dry sigh. That was only the first task of their long list. Their true work had to begin in a few seconds. And none of them looked forward to it, as they looked around, scrutinizing the landscape and getting in the feel of the current situation.

* * *

Eva Unit 01 was sent towards its berthing place, the behemoth once again being bound to its cage's walls by metal-shod restraints, like a golem chained to its prison until its master would once again allow it to take life. The maintenance members made a dozen last checkups then scurried off, leaving the whole hangar to its solitude, closing massive doors behind them, effectively sealing the massive room shut. Then, with great rending _clang_s, gates opened all around the tremendous-sized walls, letting cascades of a red, murky liquid pour forth. An orange mist filled the cavernous jail as cryostasis started to fill the hangar, drowning the Eva under thousands of liters of cooling fluid - sending the artificial God into an induced lethargy, shutting down all body functions or keeping them down to their minimal level. Soon, the helmed head of Unit 01 disappeared under the crimson surface, the purple communication horn following it mere seconds after. Then with a great hiss of pneumatics locking in the gates and air conditioning finally kicking in to filter the atmosphere, all activity ceased in the cage.

Eva Unit 01 was in level one confinement.

Behind large panes of glasses, looking on with critical eyes, a blonde-haired scientist couldn't but reflect on the sense of déjà-vu she was currently feeling. The scene she was currently witnessing was still fresh in her mind, as she had seen it unfold before her countless times before, even when Unit 01 was officially deemed as 'non-functional', before Shinji actually came to - by means unknown, but some people had an idea as to how and why - tear it from its slumbering state. The voice in her head once again whispered the accursed statement she had come to tell herself these last few weeks.

_Ah, you've said once and you'll say it again._

_Some things did change but some others didn't._

_Those who do not know history and learn from it are doomed to repeat it._

_Endlessly._

* * *

"Drink this, but no more than two glasses."

Through her blurring eyes, she saw the doctor handing her a glass filled with alcohol. Surprisingly, the beverage didn't appeal to her. Her mind was elsewhere but she nonetheless accepted the recipient, bringing it to her lips with shaking hands. The liquid swayed inside it, threatening to leave the small cup. The lounge in where the two women were remained desperately silent, raking the Major's nerves. She wanted to scream, to wreck everything around her to let go of the pain but her body wouldn't respond. The hurt wouldn't go away. It still lingered there, in the recesses of her heart, wreaking havoc around and around.

"Aw, shit, Misato, watch out! You're spilling it?"

She didn't feel the droplets of sake fall on her blouse and her skirt - as if her nerves had gone silent, leaving her mind to mull over darker thoughts that came back to torment her endlessly, like an accusation uttered over and over. _You sent them to their deaths. Your ideas of happiness are nothing. You sent them to their deaths. You failed to protect them. You sent them to their deaths._ Then, as she took her first gulp, letting the drink burn its way down her throat and causing her mind to slightly loose its grip on her being, the unshed tears finally rolled down.

Then came the sobs. For the second time, in less than four months, she was crying. Not this time over a former lover that she finally lost to Fate but over an unofficial son that she was, too, starting to lose to a war she had made him wage. A battle he didn't want to fight. The guilt was there, overwhelming, finally breaking her last defenses. Kaji, Asuka, Rei, the Fifth Child, Shinji's accident and now this battle. Fate's blows were increasing in strength. She knew that the next time she wouldn't stand back up. She would definitively crumble down.

As watery pearls slid down her smooth cheeks, Ritsuko Akagi sat down beside her friend, taking the glass off her hands. The Major didn't object or made a sign to keep it, letting the grief spill out of her, breaking its last bonds. An apologetic and sympathy-filled smile appeared on the usually cold doctor's face, suddenly feeling sorry for her friends. Her own mental state wasn't better either. This war was taking the best out of them. But she was glad Misato had given up after herself. That was a sign of her hidden strength and ability to cope with the unbearable. Misato Katsuragi leant over her friend, burying her crying face in the scientist's shoulder, shaking uncontrollably. "Let it out, Misato. Let it all out. They're going to be okay, believe me..." she muttered, soothing the broken woman.

As her friend kept on crying on her, Ritsuko Akagi couldn't but think of something that made her lose her gentle smile.

"The curse of the Evangelion has once again hit home."

* * *

For once, they were silent.

In the ethereal room that served as a forum or just a haven for their gatherings had a solemn atmosphere, as if holding a burial ceremony. All members strangely held their comments to themselves, choosing instead to gaze at each other then at the screen built on the floor, in the center of the circle they were forming. The lifeless form of Unit 01 reflected on the ambience of the darkened chamber stillness and silence not consciously knowing that it was in fact the reason of that absence of words.

Lorenz Keele looked at the purple-colored robot, processing what had just happened. Once again, the artificial god had awakened and shown the extent of his own wrath - hampering further the plans of the twelve powerful members of SEELE. Their own tool was definitively lost to them - as it seemed to have gained a new level of power and free will. That was definitively _not_ in the scenario and it bothered them. Ascension was a vital goal, as Mankind wasn't able to evolve further and reunion with Heaven was desperately needed. It was time for Man to go back at his true home, where he truly belonged. The rage of Unit 01 and the arrival of the Harbingers didn't do anything to speed up the hands of Time, but merely slowed time. Even made them go backwards. Their goal was slipping away, and they knew it. A standstill in Human evolution was a perspective completely unacceptable. Something _had _to be done and fast. More Angels would be coming and hours were ticking by with an infuriating fatality.

"The wheels are in motion."

Number three answered the statement with a voice filled of anger. "Indeed, but not in the good direction."

"That is an understatement!" piped up number six. "It's a complete disaster, even though we got what he wanted in the end. Unit 01 was not supposed to go berserk once again! Awareness should not be allowed to the Avatars!"

That affirmation sent the room in a frenzy, as comments were sent here and there. Order had lost its dominion over SEELE.

"I always said it was a mistake to hand NERV over to Ikari! Since he got our tool in his own hands, he used it for own purposes, not for ours!"

"Then who would have done the task of removing the other Angels? Who?" angrily answered number eleven. "Our pawns are as power-hungry as Ikari if not more!"

"And what of the other Angels? If it continues like this, it will not be ascension we will get but damnation! This is a madness that must stop!" hollered number nine.

"How but by using our own Avatars? The only way to restore our dominion over NERV is to storm the place and take Unit 01 away as the ultimate catalyst!" replied number eight.

"The time has not yet come! The scrolls didn't mention any of what has been happening - how are we going to cope with this?"

In his own corner, Keele remained silent, not taking part in the bickering of his counterparts. Even the shouts of the most radical members of his secret organization didn't faze him from his frozen state, as his mind was elsewhere.

"A new beast has been unleashed. Where did you get it, Ikari? What do you intend to do with it?"

Chaos only answered him.

And a day ended for many people.

* * *

_**To be continued...**_

* * *

**A/N:**

Okay, let me put this straight: I. HATE. QUICKEDIT. Yes. That piece of crap had me reformat and recheck the spelling for a ridiculous amount of time - honestly, who would try tohack that program together? I had to check it BEFORE uploading the file and AFTER that! Talk about being efficient...

And I just discovered that QuickEdit has once again butchered ALREADY FIXED SPELLING! RRRRGH! If you see words fused together, don't raise your eyebrows. You'll know what it is.

Ramblings aside, I kept my word. You got chapter ten. Oh, by the way, there were a couple reviewers who complained about my lingering on technical subjects. There are reasons for that- some of them ridiculous and others not. The Berserker and Hell parts here were put to show where the words comes from and the other aspect of the story. I was rather surprised to see how well the term 'Berserker' applied to Shinji. As for Hell, well...Angels, you know? Sorry if this was ridiculously long. Next chaps are shorter - I swear.

And this time you only got two miscellaneous notes and they're not about military technology :-)

Until better times,

**ABI2301**

* * *

**01°)** The Butterfly Effect is based on an image, that of a little butterfly, whose wings would create an air draft that would, in turn, cause a loss of equilibrium in the air stratification thus triggering a whirlwind. Even though it is not possible in real life and is but a metaphor used to picture a theory, the Butterfly Effect simply designates a sort of action that would trigger enormous consequences. Chaos theory studies mathematical cases where order does not exist or when extremely complex systems (like human beings or natural phenomena) would interact in an equally complex ecosystem, in order to see what would happen. It is thus quite unsurprising that chaos theory is deemed as one of the most complicated and improbable sciences in the world, even though it is considered top-notch in importance scale by scientific communities.

**02°)** The theory of the werewolf and the berserkers was taken from Daniel COHEN's _The Encyclopedia of Monsters_, 1991, Avon Books and the words Icelandic _bern_ and _serkr_ which make the word 'berserker' were taken from the Concise Oxford Dictionary, ninth edition, one of the three reference books found inside the Oxford Compendium CD-ROM, year 2000. While most of it stands, there are other facts that fueled that belief, like a phenomenon known as hypertrichosis or something like that genetically-caused hair outgrowths that make the individual look like his face is covered in fur - thus earning them the nickname of 'wolf-men'. It is also obvious that the fear of werewolves was fueled by Middle Age legends and superstition which promoted the fear of the unknown - dubbing each peculiar-looking people or animals as 'spawn of the devil' or the like. People who were born with genetic or strange physical problems like Siamese twins became outcasts and so on and were sometimes forced to go in circuses to be displayed to the public as 'curiosities' like Barnum did in the 1900s. The Gévaudan Beast is a mystery that runs back to 1764 in France, when a young peasant girl was savagely killed by, reportedly, a wolf-like beast, the beginning of a murder series that claimed the lives of at least a hundred individuals, most of them young women or children that were either found _neatly _dismembered, beheaded or disemboweled. The French King, Louis XIV, in response to the desperate call of help from that region (Gévaudan), sent countless hunters to track down the animal and as a result, dozens of wolves of surprisingly impressive size were slain by villagers and men-in-arms. It is also said that a strange, unheard-of specimen was also found amidst the lot of animals, but the body was soon burned and all records of where it was buried were lost - thus neither confirming nor denying the whole fact. Certain well-backed and documented conspiracies as well as testimonies from survivors of these attacks hint somewhat to the fact that those killings were not made by animals but maybe by something...of a more human nature. The beast witnessed by those people looked like a mix between a hyena, a wolf and a bear, and could walk on its two hind legs...much like a human being. One witness even reported that on its belly were small objects that suspiciously looked like buttons. Was it a suit made of pelts? No one knows and the mystery still remains. But the bottom line is (and most people agree since some material was found confirming those theories) that it may have been the work of a sect whose members disguised themselves as werewolves in order to spread panic in the Gévaudan region. Nevertheless, the whole case caused panic in the country as well as bad-placed fascination for those grisly tales.


	11. Chapter 11: Let The Wind Settle Down C

**Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Beast Inside**

**Written by abi2301**

**Chapter 11**

**v.01: 01/18/2005**

**Official disclaimer:**

The Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series are the intellectual and material property of Gainax Studios, ADVision, Inc., Shonen Ace magazine, Hideaki Anno and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. All rights reserved. 'NGE: The Beast Inside' is a purely fictional series based upon the original NGE and written for entertainment purpose only. No money is made out of it.

* * *

**Chapter 11: Let The Wind Settle Down / Catharsis**

_Is not the pleasure of feeling and exhibiting power over other beings, a principal part of the gratification of cruelty?_

**John FOSTER, Journal, Item 772 in Life and Correspondence (1846)**

_The chapter of knowledge is a very short, but the chapter of accidents is a very long one._

**Lord CHESTERFIELD, Letter to Solomon Dayrolles, 16 February 1753, in M. Maty (ed.) Miscellaneous Works vol. 2 (1778) no. 7**

_If an elderly but distinguished scientist says that something is possible he is almost certainly right, but if he says that it is impossible he is very probably wrong._

**Arthur C. CLARKE, in New Yorker 9 August 1969**

* * *

_For a whole week, hundreds of excavators and trucks of all sorts flooded the outskirts of Tokyo-03, swarming all over the place like a cloud of maddened bees. Ever since the arrival of the Third Angel at the new capital of Japan, great efforts had been made by the local government to keep in place the businesses and the citizens, trying to give them a reason to stay in harm's way and still continue to live in the manmade fortress. Even though only one eighth of the local population either had links with NERV or was directly employed by the United Nations' extremely influent and powerful branch, the seven others had no particular reason to stay attached to the new hell that had become this city. Even though the country maintained a complete blackout over NERV's activities and the operations against the Angels, one of the arguments used to incite the denizens to prolong their stay there was that of national contribution as well as participation to peacekeeping and peacemaking. Little did they know how empty that proposition was._

_Even though the problem of safety still remained one of the main questions raised against the government's wills and desperate appeals, Tokyo-03 was still the nexus of all economical activity in Japan, even if its infrastructures did not rival those of Tokyo-03, which never suffered from the Angel wars and did not have to rebuild endlessly and lose manpower in the same time. The presence of the MAGI System was enough to legalize that claim, as hundreds if not thousands of information networks passed through the enormous mainframe for reprocessing and distribution to other substations. Adjacent to the Geofront was the Hinigami Technology Center, a deeply buried bunker that housed dozens of Internet servers as well as memory databases for universities, banks, offices and other companies that actively participated in Japan's quotidian life. Tokyo-03, virtually, had become the brains of the whole nation, thanks to numerous investments from the government and overseas corporations that hoped to find in the T3 Project new means and additional experience for their own purposes._

_Countless craters adorned the pockmarked face of Tokyo-03's hills, the ground having been wrecked over and over in a merciless battle. Hundreds of shells had either detonated in midair or landed directly on the ground, ruining the once perfect roundness of these mounds and transforming them into a battlefield. Two one hundred-meter long hangars had been built on top of two of them with great haste, in a desperate attempt to hide from Tokyo-03's inhabitants what laid unmoving on them. Debris of all sorts had been scattered all over the landscape, some of them being highly sophisticated like radio antennas or electrical transformers that could pose a serious danger to safety. That 'dreadful mess', as the local authorities had come to qualify it, had to be cleaned as soon as possible, not only to keep the denizens comforted and reassured but also to reshape the battlefield to a more acceptable state. Inside the makeshift containment hangar, technicians hurried over a splintered form, scurrying over massive equipment to move gory pieces or chunks of bones away in mobile containers, all of which would be sent down in the subterranean complex for further analysis. The corpse of Za'amiel, once a powerful Angel and servant of God, was no more but an object in the hands of a remorseless mortician. Giant chainsaws tore limbs apart or dismantled greater parts of the tremendous-sized body, cleaving organs asunder and placing them in conservative fluid-filled tubs, where they would be left to simmer for a time before being subjected to the eyes of watchful biologists and eager scientists. The local atmosphere was rather cold compared to the heat toiling outside, as the air was partly filled with a cooling gas, which helped preserve the organic matter and prevented it from decaying at a too high rate. Overhead, suspended on the ceiling's railings, moved dozens of multifunction scanners, permeating the dead body beneath with rays of different natures, from x-ray to infrared or ultraviolet. The collected readings were then sent towards a set of Cray T9F supercomputers lodged in a heavily protected van, then processed and sent back to NERV through a fiber optic network._

_In a mezzanine hanging from the ceiling and overlooking the busy scene, five individuals, apparently oblivious to the agitation, discussed the recent turn of events._

* * *

"The Active Recorder is completely blank?"

Misato Katsuragi, one of the most appreciated and much feared personnel of NERV, currently looked like the epitome of tiredness. Dark lines surrounded her heavy-lidded eyes and her hair hung limply without brilliance radiating from it. Her duties to the U.N.-owned organization as well as heavy pressure from implacable parties had led her to lose a dozen more hours of well-needed sleep, a loss culminated with her worry about her charges, both of which hadn't still been released from the underground hospital. Her dreary appearance, however, was not lost on her colleague and subordinates, who all bore the same early signs of exhaustion.

"Once again, yes. It seems that whatever made Shinji snap caused a feedback in the Eva's electronic systems. All recordings of the battle were lost," answered Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, allowing herself to drink yet another cup of her infamous black coffee. "It might be Shinji's emotions that might have triggered that phenomenon--just after Asuka's...incapacitation."

The air in the little meeting room suddenly grew heavier, dripping with gloom. "It might have been the same that happened with Rei, shortly before the Third Angel...a sudden, brutal change of emotions that sort of confused the Eva's command interface, spawning errors here and there in the operating system and messing with the protocols," commented Maya Ibuki, recalling the first time Unit 00 had gone berserker, nearly tearing its containment cage apart, flinging its fists on the armored wall like a maddened beast. Scenes like that never died in one's mind's eye. They always came back at the worst moment, like a reminder of an evil past. "If you see it like that the theory does stand..."

"...If it wasn't for the fact that Shinji was in control," cut in Makoto Hyuga, beating the operations commander by a scant second. He held up a ten foot-long sheet of paper, filled with numbers and charts. "These are the results from the _MAGI_'s AR--since the connection with the Eva was not lost we could still get a peek inside its system so we've got at least an idea of what has happened."

Misato Katsuragi narrowed her eyes and snatched the piece of paper from the bespectacled technician's hands. She unfolded it and eyed carefully the diagrams, her eyes scanning all over the document, trying to find a clue to Shinji's behavior. "That doesn't make sense."

"No, indeed. Some of the black boxes were out while others weren't. Same thing for the command routers and the main nexus. Partial shutdowns here and there with no warning, all coming from the neural interface system. But there is still no explication as to why all these shutdown orders were sent at the same time. We assume that it was caused by a psychological trauma but we have no idea as to how it translated itself into those types of commands. By the way, the MAGI's AR is quiet on that part. We could not find the commands themselves. It's as if the whole memory disks had rewritten themselves."

"Like a criminal cleaning its crime scene after he's done his business, if you like the comparison," added Shigeru Aoba. "Our reports state--for the moment, until proven otherwise--that all this mess was created from an erratic phenomenon, not a dedicated one with a single, set purpose."

Misato dropped the sheet on the table and looked back at the long-haired tech with a 'you must be kidding me' look. "As if _that _couldn't happen--after everything we've gone through..." She sighed then began counting on her fingers, pacing around the room. "Evas that go nuts, our MAGI that nearly goes Bomberman on us, Shinji being absorbed by a forty-story robot, yeah...really impossible."

Shigeru looked away, a meek look set on his face. Makoto Hyuga then decided to drop his own little bombshell, knowing that, for a reason, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi wasn't going to put that up for the moment. "By the way, the Commander said that if some material pertaining to the 'incident's' cause was found it was to be directly sent to him and no one else. It will only figure on the top tier personnel database and not on the official reports."

Dr. Ritsuko Akagi silently cursed then closed her eyes, knowing what was to come shortly after such a declaration. _Five...four...three...two...one...boom._

"WHAT?"

"It seems that the higher-ups in the U.N. Security Council are growing nervous with our losing control over Unit 01. They're getting afraid that we would go lax on it and leave it a chance to free itself from our care and go on a rampage. Some lawyers are already scuffling around to find back those files...those who were leaked for that Jet Alone demonstration. So Command doesn't want them to have any more material to hold up against us in front of a tribunal in case we were officially to lose our mandate."

"But they can't do that! We've spent three thousand _billion _dollars just for the renovation of the Geofront--if they decide to sink us they would have to face a three thousand billion dollars hole that has not yet been filled to its brim, damn it! It doesn't make sense!" exploded Misato Katsuragi, letting her loathing of politics show. "First they want us to protect their asses then they want us out of the picture!"

"Power plays, Misato," replied Akagi, as if the answer was, indeed, obvious. "They think only in the short term, don't forget. You really think that those at Neo-New York wouldn't jump at the occasion of shooting NERV in the heart and discrediting those who actually support it? NERV is a sensible spot in U.N. discussions, I remind you. Not only is it something of high importance but there are a lot to win by playing with that card, that is, if you know what to do with it. We don't have only supporters in the Council but a lot of enemies. Next thing, NERV is also a source of power. The freedom we have is not really appreciated there. And couple it with the fact that we have two functional Evas who are potentially worse than a nuclear bomb on a good day and you've got catfights about taking control of our poor, little organization. After all, who wouldn't want to lay his hands on two walking weapons of mass destruction? They are good means of persuasion and deterrence."

Misato mumbled something about venal people then sighed angrily. It _did _make sense knowing that it also made a good tool of pressure against certain organizations or even countries. If the Evas were actually to be turned into pure war machines and used against human beings instead of Angel, the enemy nation or faction would have to face a living nightmare, as no current type of weapon had yet been known to stop it, much less slow it down on its rampaging spree--apart from a fellow Eva, of course. "Anyway, we're dead in the water, whatever we find. We're to bury the clues so that nobody can use them against us. Destroy the weaknesses," concluded Aoba.

"As if we didn't have enough with the Angels, we now have to have to lead a battle of wits with our own peers," moaned Misato Katsuragi as she dropped in a seat, nearly defeated. "So all the answers to our questions are to no use to us, then?" Ritsuko Akagi slowly nodded, a look of weariness flashing through her eyes. "What has become of the saying that 'knowledge is power'?"

"Nothing important...just joined the enemy, that's all," replied the doctor dryly. "You don't give to your enemy the rope with which he could hang you tomorrow, Misato. There are sacrifices to be made, whatever their importance. We know what we could have done with the information but for the moment they are weaknesses that we cannot afford. Not now. We don't need the attention, especially with what happened at New Yokosuka and at the Komagatake Pass. Having one Eva out of two badly damaged and out of service for an entire month is already bad. Giving the dogs more food to sate their hunger of power is worse."

Misato couldn't but reflect on how that last statement made sense, especially in those years where hopes of international cooperation had left place to a bloody, vicious and merciless battle for power and better social standing among the members of the political intelligentsia. That millenaries-long fight was not new by any means but it had taken a new meaning after the Second Impact, after countless places in the states' decision circles had been vacated for more than one reason. Battles of interests had taken place for long years, with people arguing against each other for exponentially more trivial matters instead of more critical subjects like the reconstruction of the dying world. In the 18th century British Navy there once had been a toast that went by 'here's to sickly seasons and bloody wars', that reflected much on human's pitiless nature and thirst of power. A new world was being born and countless were those who wanted to imprint their names in history or simply to get hold of the riches that were at hand by choosing that path. "Makes sense. But it really sucks--we've got an Eva that goes berserker on our hands and we don't have any means to actually get to understand how it became possible. Even if the investigation had to go undercover and known to NERV only but not to the higher-ups, we could have done a lot more to avoid such messes."

"Not to mention to lessen the weight of the papers that are stacking up on our desks," added Hyuga, recalling the two-feet tall pile of files that littered his desk, leaving him very little place to do anything else except work on his personal computer. "We're spending thirty billion dollars per year to improve our automation capability and thus get rid of all the official files' processing but we still have to get across every sheet of paper, sign and do all that comes with it."

"It's a dirty joke from the U.N." shrugged Aoba, passing a hand through his hair. "Since we're getting more and more power and independence from our counterparts in the organization we're been attracting more enemies than one would ever dare imagine and that faster than you can say 'shit'. But that freedom does not come with a wave of the hand -- the word is that the inner decision circle of the U.N. decided to give us more paper work instead of sending us representatives. The Commander has done a good job in convincing them that giving us a liaison or supervisor with a political agenda would be nothing more than a hindrance during our operations against the Angels. He even compared it to the bygone Soviet Era and the _zampolits _-- the political commissars adjoined to every military base, unit or ship during the Cold War -- it quite ruffled some feathers in Neo-New York," he added, smiling a bit. The distaste of NERV employees towards the U.N., nonetheless their former employer was a tendency that had rapidly become an institutional characteristic. "Anyway, the reason why we got all this," he gestured to the stacks of paper around him with a wide arc of his arm. "is our own independence. It's the revenge from the U.N. on us."

"I see," sighed Misato. She had heard the rumor but she knew that there were more reasons beneath that, one being the fact that the U.N. didn't want to be blamed on whatever mistake, mishap or tragedy NERV might have done or caused and in order to prevent that, instituted an enormous set of rules and legal barriers around the newly founded organization so that it wouldn't act rashly without first making sure it wouldn't go against international laws and agreements. It was needless to say that such measures had proved to be ineffective as the Supreme Commander had found numerous ways to bypass those invisible fences, even taking the opportunity to build some legal loopholes that allowed him to do some illegal or even criminal operations without being subjected to any form of criminal investigation or arrest. Section Two was one of the tools Ikari had created to ensure his plans' success. Inside that paramilitary division was an entire platoon dedicated to look up the Human Rights Declaration and international charters or agreements and locate any poorly-covered fact or point that might provide their superior with a mean to get away without problem. "So we're turning into a political arena instead of an anti-Angel military organization. My day couldn't start in a better way," Misato sighed deeply and sunk in her chair. The other occupants of the room remained silent, not wanting to add another burden on the already worn-out Major's shoulders. Ritsuko Akagi even went as far as to already plan in her head an appointment with a shrink from the Employee Welfare And Social Resources division as she knew that the purple-haired officer was nearing a complete breakdown. _The walls of Jericho once stood proud and strong, like a plant never wilting. But it only took one hour to take them down. Time and the work of God always manage to take down Mankind's fairest and sturdiest constructions_, she thought, recalling her late mother, Naoko Akagi. _Even mountains crumble under the weight of time._

"By the way..." Ritsuko Akagi, thanks to her years working as a scientist and as Commander Ikari's subordinate, didn't allow herself to look startled, even though the sudden rupture of the wall-thick silence had broken her trail of thoughts and caught her unawares, a rare occurrence these days. "Yes?" she asked.

"When...well, just before the Seventeenth...if you remember our little conversation..." Misato trailed, tilting an eyebrow suggestively, not wanting to impart the other technicians with some kind of unwanted information. "...Right before the...apotheosis, if you see what I mean..." Ritsuko frowned, remembering the days she had spent in an unlit, uncomfortable cell, awaiting the judgment of her crimes, namely destroying Rei's vessels and causing a major setback in the Dummy Plug program's schedule and development. The charges of counterproductive, criminal behavior and disclosure of classified information were but a single leaf out of the forest that were the things held against her by NERV Command. Shortly before Tabris, the Angel of Free Will, also known as Kaoru Nagisa, the Fifth Child, had possessed the sleeping Eva Unit 02 and taken her down to the depths of Terminal Dogma and straight up to Heaven's Doors (the last security wall that guarded the sanctum holding the being known as 'Lilith', the Second Angel), Major Katsuragi had paid her a visit, with the intention of knowing more about the reasons behind her suicidal, madness-filled acts. But what had come up first was the question about Nagisa's true nature. Akagi's answer was cryptic to those who knew little of NERV's doings and secrets but horrifying to those who had lived through the ordeals of Tokyo-03.

_He must be the final messenger..._

"What of it...?" warily asked Akagi, knowing that the presence of the 'bridge bunnies' was not safe for both of them, as there were microphones hidden a little bit everywhere in the Geofront and its adjacent, subterranean ramifications. The simple fact that _Misato Katsuragi _would dare reveal the content of her conversation to those young, yet-untainted minds was a sign of how weary she was, and tired of all the power and secrecy games played in the great pyramid of NERV. _The true Misato Katsuragi would never ask something that bluntly and that blatantly before other witnesses. Even though she is a slob or even a wretch when it comes to her drinking addiction, her mind always kicks its gears up when it comes to business. That's where she shows her subtlety and the refinement of her inquisitive soul. The sniper hidden behind the clown. Knowing that she is ready to drop those masks and go to the essential is not a good sign._

"You said he was the last one..." she whispered, her statement sounding more like a question than an observation. Ibuki, Hyuga and Aoba frowned, as they had not been aware of that piece of information, yet had been informed that the Angel attacks would stop after the Seventeenth. They always had assumed that there would still be more Angels but had not considered the possibility of there being only seventeen of those beings. That was also the reason why they couldn't envision their future very clearly as they didn't know if NERV would be shut down or simply downsized to a more reasonable importance. Those worries had just been blown out of the Earth's surface. "...I guess I was wrong, then," answered Ritsuko Akagi, her eyes slowly widening. They were stepping into a minefield right now and there were answers that could not be given at that moment, for many reasons, but, and Akagi couldn't pick up why, she decided to stick to the truth, or at least the immediate truth. "There were artifacts and other paraphernalia that indeed foresaw the arrival of seventeen Angels and as such people didn't care to prod further in those matters -- they just sticked to the already known facts. A very convenient way of thinking, if you ask me: don't fry your brains, just keep what you already know. Don't do conjectures," she took a new sip of her infamous 'anti-Angel-poisoning' coffee and smirked at the antics of those who had preceded her in the analysis of the Dead Sea Scrolls. "But those documents did not state that there would only be seventeen creatures. A mind well imbued with reasonable criticism would have pointed out that, considering all odds and logic, there should be more. The actual number is left, of course, to our wild imagination. But the fact is there: it's now confirmed that there are more than seventeen Angels."

Misato Katsuragi remained silent. "So we will still have to send the Children straight down the pathways of Hell--that's what you're telling me, right?"

Ritsuko Akagi bit her lip. Touching the subject of Misato's charges and the well-being was like playing Russian Roulette. Either you shot yourself or you didn't--misfortune often made sure the former would happen and not the latter. But those who would get lucky were those who would pick up winning lottery tickets later in life. "Basically, yes. But we still don't know how it will end up or what it will lead to. We'll have to see."

Aoba, Ibuki and Hyuga had the wisdom to not utter a word. Whispering a comforting statement in her ears would not elicit from her the hoped-for response. Misato, as many knew, was often compared to a short-fused bomb that sometimes had the bad particularity to blow up for no apparent reason and that without warning. Section Two goons and other incompetent officers who had been the subjects of her wrath were living testimonies of her volatility. And that was without counting the fact that she always carried a .45ACP Heckler und Koch USP-45 pistol inside her jacket. With three spare magazines.

"It's not fair."

Nobody answered that, even though all agreed.

She had said it before and she would say it again, even before the end.

_Some things did change while some others didn't._

_Nobody ever said that life always evolved for the best, given its predilection for chaos and thirst of destruction._

* * *

"I really wonder what you have truly done, Ikari. One would say that like, the Americans in 1945 just after Hiroshima, you just created the weapon to end all wars, but another would rather deem that you gave existence to a plague that would easily cost us dearly in the near future."

Gendo Ikari merely smirked in response, his eyes tracing the back of the Vice Commander, who was, at that moment, gazing outside the glass panes of his own office, at the artificial forest inside the Geofront. As it was nearly 11:07pm, the lighting had switched to a reddish hue, for two reasons; one being the fact that it intimidated a lot those who entered the room to meet NERV's head officer and the other being the preservation of night vision, as red light made for a perfect compromise between light and darkness and thus allowed transition between scotopic and photopic -- respectively the scientific names of night and day vision. His conversation over the latest developments in the Angel Wars had taken all day, as a strange game had taken placed in this sanctum-sanctorum of sorts: the Vice-Commander would state every negative or controversial point against the Project M and the Supreme Commander would try to find a justification or argument against them. So far, Ikari had fallen back behind his usual 'the ends justify the means' point and played with it as a universal answer to Fuyutsuki's objections and needless to say, Machiavel's saying wasn't enough to convince the old university professor about the ethics of such a program.

"A bomb doesn't explode unless you set it off or you mishandle it, Fuyutsuki. Phase Possession was carried out to specifically take care of that last case," replied Ikari in a tranquil tone, as if not interested in the least in the matter. He did, however, deeply enjoy such conversations with his old mentor, as it represented for him a battle of minds and took it as training sessions for his meetings with SEELE and other U.N. officials. _Not to mention that it keeps my mind sharp. That way I wouldn't have to suffer the worst type of death that could be bestowed by God on Mankind: death by apathy._

"A bomb is a very simple object, Ikari. It is made of two parts: the warhead, filled with explosives, and a fuse. You can hardly compare it to a human being who psyche is much more complex and unpredictable than that," Fuyutsuki admonished. "It's against all mathematical rules, you know. The two parts of an equation must be of a same nature or have specifically identical characteristics."

"I thought you were more in philosophical matters than in mathematics or chaos theory, professor," observed Ikari with a raised eyebrow but with yet an unmoving face. "Care to give an example of what you advance?" he dared, a sliver of amusement piercing through his cold, monotonous voice.

"Ever heard of Descartes' reasoning on how Mankind's existence could be demonstrated by a simple syllogism? The _cogito ergo sum_ concept?" Fuyutsuki acknowledged the small nod from the Commander and went on, resuming his perusal of the forest's state. "I doubt that I exist -- but I do not doubt that I doubt -- and if I doubt then I am thinking -- therefore, if I'm thinking then I must be existing. _Cogito ergo sum_: I think therefore I am. Well, from a mathematical standpoint, such an equation is erroneous: you cannot equate an action that only lasts a few seconds with something that lasts much longer if not forever. If you are dead and therefore do not think anymore, you theoretically cannot exist anymore. Yet your body is still there, as the atoms that make it up have still not disintegrated and most probably will not until some million years." _Yet I hope there will be no tomb for you Ikari, when your time will come. There's no need to soil our already tainted Earth by allowing you to rest in our universal mother's womb._

"Indeed but I still have many years before me before such a thing would ever have to bother me," he dismissed the thought, knowing that death was not an option for him, as something greater, a fate much more glorious was in store for him. "but to get back on the Third Child's business, we will not leave room for a loose behavior or loss of control over him. As far as we know, now one in the entourage of the Third is aware of what is truly going on inside his head, apart, of course, Dr. Akagi. But since her elimination of the Dummy Plug vessels..." he frowned at the memory and the problems it caused afterwards, seriously putting in danger his plans of being reunited with Yui. "...the Third and her have grown apart and do not see each other save for physicals, routine checks and work. So confidentiality has been taken care of in that place." Gendo Ikari sneered while thinking of his son, relishing in the thought of using him as a weapon on many degrees and aspects. There were times where that situation amused him to no end, in the sanctuary that was his calculating mind. Since he couldn't afford to be close to his only relative (apart from his younger brother, his wife and son, that he had neither met nor even talked to for years since Yui's untimely...disappearance) as it would cause his determination to waver and his strength of mind to falter, he had fallen into a colder, uncaring version of himself, his grieving and desperate self retreating deep inside the depths of his new avatar. Inhumanity would keep him sane and would allow him to succeed. He knew it and could not go back. He wouldn't and couldn't. "As for that, we'll tell Dr. Akagi to schedule other...sessions with the Third each month to ensure his...inner guest...doesn't go out of bounds nor cause any type of disturbance to us."

"Allowing a potentially dangerous being to have a host knowing the extent of his power is pure madness, Ikari. You saw what he did to Za'amiel. I'm sure that he already knows what you're keeping in store for him and he will most likely take steps to prevent it."

"Afraid, professor? Squeamish?" softly asked Gendo Ikari.

Fuyutsuki glared at his erstwhile student. It seemed, for a mere second, that he was bordering on a heart attack, as Ikari's statement roused indignation from him. Years of dealing with Rokubungi, now Ikari, then prevented him from exploding in the face of the now Supreme Commander of NERV. "Afraid? Horrified is the word, Ikari! You're not paying heed to the warnings around you and that will be, one day, your downfall. And you know it. You always long for control but I'm afraid that with individuals like him...it is a word that doesn't exist."

"It's one of the reasons why I chose to awaken him, professor," smirked Ikari. _The ends always justify the means; all that counts are the results._ "He will not allow the Angels to destroy him as he one of the highest. Even if he is contained in the body of a mortal, he will not stand for his brethren threatening to kill him. He will not leave the control of his destiny in the hands of others, especially the Angels. He holds a throne higher than any other one in the Holy Choir, I remind you."

Fuyutsuki nearly sputtered at that understatement. "Ikari, he stands at the right of the Almighty, for Heaven's Sake! He's his right hand, to tell the truth! Not even the four great Archangels, Raphael, Uriel, Gabriel and Michael can rival his glory and might! The Scrolls as well as the book of Enoch describes fairly accurately the extent of his powers!"

"Then why are you asking 'why him?' if the answer is so obvious?"

"But the risks..." Fuyutsuki started.

"Are shadowed and negated by the things that can achieved through his presence," cut Ikari, waving him off. "He's the stairways to Heaven and the keys to the holy doors of the Land of the Light."

"He will never agree to it, Ikari," the old man sighed in resignation. Ikari was too far gone and he would not back down, not now, not here.

"He will. He has no choice--like all Angels. He's bound to Fate," Gendo Ikari said, as if stating an obvious and rejoicing fact. But the old scientist didn't show any sign of relief or even conviction over that last argument. _Fate was a fickle being, _as they saying went by. _Never played by the rules and never will. Only followed its caprices, no matter how stupid, chaotic and irregular they were._

Fuyutsuki remained stone-faced, already guessing the next comment that would come forth from Ikari's lips, one that he didn't like in the least.

"...And we're the ones redrawing the paths of Fate."

* * *

"Do you really think it will be over one day?"

NERV technicians, otherwise known either as the 'bee workers' or the 'cage holders', were quite known throughout the institution as an unofficial intelligence division, as of its members had the habit of discussing events and developments while working and traded in the process countless pieces of information. Those 'small talk' sessions had become a non-dissociable feature of theirs, like an unspoken custom created to pass time or fight boredom, as most of their assignments were to check up the Evas, perform their weekly routine maintenance and move equipment around in an unending ballet that would even bore the hardest people. The technical and maintenance division had become over the years the new source of ulcers for Section Two, as the techs, since they worked all over the Geofront, often entered in contact with classified information or got a glimpse from them. Most cases weren't liable for indiscretion enough to guarantee them even a small stay in a cold, unlit cell but even the less competent spy could easily piece two or three things together and cause a massive confidentiality breach. In the T&M cafeteria, built between the twelve Eva cages -- all of which were placed around an imaginary 'column' that either housed equipment, storage rooms or computer parts -- reigned an endless meeting between employees who, behind mugs of tea or coffee, discussed the day's events or shared anecdotes over their work -- an exchange that could either turn into pure, unadulterated gossip or serious debates about the superiority of certain technology concepts over others.

"Who can tell? Do you have a crystal ball and some tarot cards?"

"Oh, quit it," retorted a female engineer, swatting her colleague's shoulder playfully. "It's not a crime to ask oneself about how the future will turn out, right?" she asked. "Especially during those days."

Her fellow technicians nodded in a silent agreement, silence speaking louder than any other statement over the evils of the present. "Yeah, but it doesn't dismiss the fact that no one can predict future--unless, of course, you have been gifted with foresight or a strange mental ability to peer in the delving of Fate."

"Aren't we getting poetic or dramatic, today," smirked a supervisor from the maintenance division. "You should consider becoming a writer one day, it'd pay better."

His counterparts shared a hearty laugh, recognizing the derisiveness of their monthly paycheck. Five years after the dissolution of GEHIRN and the consequent creation of NERV, most of the technicians and physicists that had made up the original working team had either retired or left their job to find more juicy posts in private business. Some even had founded their own company and marketed their own products, the technology being tacitly inspired from that found in the innermost technological recesses of the Geofront. "Yeah, not that it'd bother me, but I'd miss our talking sessions."

"True, true...but to get back at our previous subject, what do you think about...the latest fight?" asked a young mechanic fresh from the New Tokyo Daigaku, also known as the New Todai University. The smiles present on every face quite lessened at that last word. "According to one of my friends in the HQ bridge, a lot of things went haywire," slowly answered a senior technician, stirring the content of his mug with his spoon. "if not downright to Hell. There are a lot of things that doesn't make sense, according to what I hear and gather around." Nods around the table met that last sentence, as it was a common pastime of theirs to find out how NERV was faring nowadays. "But the bottom line is this: one Eva, as you know, missed being blown sky-high and has its chest open for the world to see and the other one..." Some frowns followed, as all guessed which unit was being discussed. Eva Unit 01 had proven itself to be an extremely problematic robot that had managed to give more headaches to the Project E division than any meningitis outbreak would ever do; most technicians, as the Unit's berserker crises grew more frequent, became more and more scared to work on the mecha, fearing that it might awaken on them and go on a rampage. The possibility of seeing it self-activating and let its rage loose was enough to give them nightmares. "...Is once again in cryostasis with specific orders not to touch it until the 'Bastard' and the 'Geezer' find out what's wrong with it and make some decisions about it. It's for the moment in complete confinement in cage seven and only senior personnel can perform checks on it and all of those sessions must be monitored by Akagi."

"So...another one, isn't it?"

"I think it should be obvious. Each time such an order was issued to us, it was because that goddamned robot decided to wake up and play Godzilla around," replied the technician. "And to think, I wouldn't want to be the pilots--they must get the feel of those tantrum sessions first-hand."

"What about them?" asked the same young mechanic. "From what I heard, they're quit the chickens with the golden eggs right here, isn't it?" The frowns he received in answer told him that there was more to it than he was led to think. Of course, he had just been drafted from the U.N. and directly sent here as part of an unofficial 'personnel exchange' as the higher-ups put it and he still didn't know about all aspects of NERV and some matters that were better left unspoken or didn't need any discussion. "One might say that, but it seems that they get more banged up than getting fun on the battlefield. Once you see how many times they end up in the hospital wards or on an operating table, you will change your opinion on that."

"Is it that bad?" Of course, even though a secrecy agreement was in vigor around the work conditions of the Children, NERV employees still discussed some matters in family, especially at table during supper and some pieces of information eventually got out of the security net dressed up by Section Two. The word that children actually manned those great mechas finally got out, much to the delight of some individuals who fantasized about robot wars and, of course, the thought of salvation. But the horrors those newly-declared messiahs did not reach the ears of the population and thus instilled people with the belief that fighting Angels was but child's play. Which obviously was not. "Bad is an understatement, rookie," The young mechanic didn't mind the nickname, as it was justified for the moment. "Awful is closer to reality but doesn't show how bad it really is. Anyway, when the Units were shuttled down to cages six and seven, they arrived without both pilots. They usually drive them back down to Central Dogma and the fact that both Units came on autopilot only means one thing: that they got hurt and had to be extracted from their Plugs directly on the battlefield and hurled towards the hospital. Not to mention the fact that when I passed through the S&R hangars during the alert to help the fourth crew fix up some damages in the forty-ninth sector, I noticed that some of their trucks not to mention their heavy payload equipment were missing. Ergo, they were going all-out. Ergo, the shit hit the fan and the pilots most likely paid for it."

An electrician then spoke up, feeling that he should impart with his friends his own deal of knowledge. "According to my folks in the Search & Rescue teams, both of them are now in artificial coma," Some gasps were heard, especially from the female members of the meeting. NERV, even though it was a sort of wicked, strange organization, was considered by many as a great family and it was only fair that one would ask about another, like a relative would keep in touch with another. "But the Second was found in a bad state when she was extracted from her Plug. According to the guys who were onsite, the Plug's lower end was slightly melted--fortunately only the outer heat shield was touched by the heat blast. The liquid inside and the inner shield absorbed the heat and prevented it from reaching or even unaccommodating the Pilot. But the shockwave seems to have knocked her out."

"You're speaking about that loud brat, right? The one with long red-gold hair?"

"The one and only, NERV's German-made nuclear bomb. Never cross her if you want to keep your balls attached to your crotch and not find them shoved down your throat with a couple other things," All males winced at that, as such a subject was extremely...sensible to talk about, to say the least. "Anyway, she got hurt pretty bad and had to be rushed to the E.R. room and then down to the wards."

"What of the boy?" asked a female tech. "He seems to get his share of pain, too. His father doesn't seem to care at all about him. It's even surprising if he doesn't send his son straight to the battlefield without his Eva."

"Yeah. The bastard deserves his name," agreed a maintenance officer. "I was there when he first stepped in front of Unit 01. His father all but tossed him in the Plug without as much of a greeting or warm welcome. Only Katsuragi--that purple-haired chick from Ops--seemed to stick up for him. Akagi didn't seem to care much."

"And?"

"Well, he threatened to use that blue-haired girl -- he should be damned for that, using a wounded girl as a bait, even if she's as cold and expressive as an iceberg -- to pilot the Eva if he didn't. That's when the boy gave in. Ever since he got thrown in the hospital for wounds and other broken limbs. He must have his own room down there now."

"He does," concurred a supervisor. "Or that's what I gather, at least. He didn't seem to have been wounded during the last fight, but he's kept in an artificial coma for the time being. Direct order from Command, impossible to bypass or cancel."

"But why does he need be put in a coma if he isn't hurt?" asked a perplexed female technician. "That doesn't sound logical."

"Who ever said that wounds could only be of a physical nature?" rhetorically asked the senior officer. "The Second nearly got in the psychiatric ward because of depression worsened by slight anemia. Nearly went mad when that Angel attacked her mind, according to those bridge bunnies."

"Holy shit."

"Anyway, both of them are down in the hospital and they are kept there in 24/7 surveillance until Command deems them healthy enough to be released from their care."

"Kamikaze Katsuragi must be pissed," laughed a young maintenance employee who passed his days filling boxes with spent electronics and stacking them away. His neighbor smirked before admonishing him with a knowing smile. "Better not do it, man. She's scary when she snaps. Especially when her gun's around. That's when she goes on a killing spree, with a predilection on shooting male genitals around the place." Hearty laughs answered him. Misato Katsuragi's volatility was universally known in NERV. "Anyway, we have to prepare for next week, the big assignment. I gather you all heard about it?" The senior officer looked around until his eyes met the frown of a young electrician. "Kondo?"

"What is it, again? I just came back two days ago and I haven't had the opportunity to look up the schedule panels -- just got carried away by orders from my squad chief who wanted me to clear some mess around here and there," he explained with an apologetic smile. The officer waved him off. "Perfectly understandable given the circumstances. No, it's just that next week will be as hectic as right now, because of a special arrival."

"Oh? Which one?" the young man asked, already foreseeing the long hours of tiresome work.

"That of Unit 05. The replacement Eva."

* * *

"Something is amiss," she said aloud, as if trying to convince herself.

Rei Ayanami strolled through the deserted streets of Tokyo-03, her demeanor as unreadable as ever but her mind obviously occupied by preoccupying matters. To people who might have the known the quiet, blue-haired pilot before the start of the Angel Wars, the sight would have been befuddling, if not completely bewildering as very few have ever witnessed the First Child in such a state. She was known for her tendency to stay in seclusion, away from human company, and remain silent, never entering a conversation unless directly addressed or if the topic was of great importance. A small part of NERV knew that her behavior was the result of her stern schooling, literally 'engineered' by Gendo Ikari himself. Some bad tongues even offered that the Supreme Commander had rubbed off on her, imparting her with a part of his own coldness and calculating stance.

_Unit 01 has not gone out of control - Ikari was still in command of his unit. Yet his behavior doesn't make sense as he has not shown any prior signs of determination or anger. It doesn't concur with his past, not even with the previous engagements against the Angels. His change of mind is highly unusual. Alarming should be the correct term to qualify it._

Lifting her gaze from the pavement, she looked skywards, at the clouds that lingered above the city, lazily continuing their journey towards the center of the country. The sense of calm one could easily perceive by staring at that particular scene, however, did nothing to calm the silent turmoil that reigned in the First Child's head, as more and more questions and mysteries not answered kept coming back to her mind.

_Then there is the matter of _The_ presence._

Mystifyingly, Rei Ayanami felt a cold shiver spread through her body, a feeling previously alien to her.

_Pilot Ikari was not himself when he engaged the Nineteenth. His soul changed in appearance and nature - it felt greater, more intense, more...mature. Different. It couldn't have been him as his aura's readings have not shown such features since I first met him - those are not self-induced changes triggered by abrupt emotions or reflections. He never looked like that. Not when I was the Second and before I became the Third. _Her musings were briefly interrupted as memories from her previous avatar surged back to life_. It...smelled...different. The energy signature was definitely not that of Ikari. What is more alarming is the fact that he already 'changed' twice, once before the battle and then after Soryu's incapacitation. Commander Ikari should be notified of this development; it might have counterproductive effects on Pilot Ikari and on the operations. But I do not know if the measures the Commander will take towards his son will do any good - Pilot Ikari has shown his distrust towards his father. What must be done?_

Rei Ayanami, lost in her thoughts, then didn't notice a presence in her head, keeping silent as if observing her thinking and drawing conclusions from it. Several seconds passed until the Voice made once again itself known to the teenager, jarring her from her musings. _Why do you worry about him?_

Why do you ask?

_It is highly unusual to see you ponder such matters with so much intensity. What does intrigue you the most here? The fact that the Third is changing or the fact that you care?_ the Voice asked.

Care? Ayanami replied.

_Yes, care. You've been spending the past ten minutes thinking about him and how his soul transformed into something else. Even the part about you switching bodies and dying didn't even get you off the tracks. I thought that that was a sensible subject for you_, it retorted.

My being dead is not relevant. I am replaceable. As long as I can fulfill my task such matters do not requires any further discussion or questioning.

_But you are no more replaceable. You are now unique. You have become mortal. Like the others, the Lillims. Shouldn't you be glad or at the least satisfied that you are now closer to them than you are to the Mother? Becoming human also implies questioning the nature and the ethics of everything that surround you. That trait flows through the veins of Mankind. They cannot stop that impulse to examine the world around and try to bend it to their will. That strain to thrive, to survive and to win over any challenges given to them is what makes them human. It's one of their many fascinating facets, one of their most precious blessings but also one of their deadliest curses. Not even the Angels, who dwell in the Land of Light, can boast having that ability._

But...doesn't it endanger my task? Does the fact that I...care...destroy my ability to correctly think? Rei asked, dreading the truths ahead.

_Ah, you have reached that point, too. My, aren't you a tortured one_, chuckled the Voice. _With each new ability comes a new responsibility. And, as I must have stated earlier...new choices...the weight of which resides on your shoulders. Free will: one gift the Holy and the Damned ones do not have. Yet you...tell me, can you feel it, deep inside you?_

What should I feel? How should I feel it? asked Ayanami, puzzled by the question. The world around her suddenly became an impression of Hell, as heat began to toil mercilessly against her skin, not burning it but leaving an unpleasant sensation. She could see the air wavering in front of her, its stillness destroyed by the rise of temperature. To the perplexed First Child, it was as if reality was distorting. The beacons of her existence were fading away, leaving her in a new terra incognita. Her inferno.

_The sounds of the seals breaking...the bounds that linked you to Fate, crumbling into dust. For a new destiny to arise_, answered the interlocutor, with a cryptic tone._ You do not answer to Fate anymore. You attachment to her is slowly slipping away, not completely yet, but definitely. Your newfound humanity has freed you from a restraint you felt everyday on your being. You are becoming _human

Is that...bad? asked the First Child. Am I really becoming human?

_Don't you remember what I said a few days ago? Being human is not only being able to feel or have emotions. It is also making choices and acting. The conscience of the dilemmas that then befall you is another step towards humanity. Acceptance of the risks at hand is another. But here, I must admit, I contradict myself. Free will you already have. Not totally, but you have it. The one thing you do not have in its entireness is the ability to feel. Because you weren't raised as a human._

Rei stopped in mid-stride, suddenly feeling herself queasy, nauseous. She could nearly feel the bile rising in her throat. Discussing about herself seemed to have that effect on her being - a great disturbance that not only took physical but also mental manifestations. She bent over, putting a hand of her chest, trying to quench the feeling inside.

_You cannot bear it, can you? You feel it: the lies undone, the truth unveiled...your being changing in more ways than you would ever think. You no longer have control over yourself. Because of one thing._

Rei's eyes widened at the revelation, fearing another piece of news that might put her sanity at stake.

_Your sole purpose, the one the Lillims gave you, has ended._

The First Child fell to her knees, a sense of unleashed agony spreading through her being, torturing her, the one that did not feel. Her knees impacted upon a harsh stony surface, her hands soon following in an attempt to steady her body and prevent herself from totally collapsing on the ground. Blue pangs of hair fell on Rei Ayanami's face, like a curtain trying to hide reality from her, preventing it from hurting her further in a futile attempt.

_The cross you were carrying is no longer your burden to bear._

_For another one has taken over your task._

_A new messiah has come._

* * *

_Beep-beep._

Over the years, many philosophers had discussed about the repetitiveness of life and how History repeated itself over time. Mistakes were remade, sometimes with greater and direr consequences, and tragedies unfolded again while they could have been prevented. It was said that those who didn't know History were condemned to endlessly repeat it, as a terrible punishment over their ignorance of the lessons of the Past, but there were cases were such a situation couldn't be helped, as Destiny took over the dealings of men and dictated her will over the ways of actuality. Some fatalistic people might say that it was just the meddling of Fate but others, of better minds, just thought that it was the result of Mankind's stupidity and lack of foresight. In either case, it wasn't something to rejoice for. Even though such occurrences were beneficial for Men as they provided excellent lessons on how to deal with the horrors of reality and how to avoid them, as well as additional experience, people tended to ignore those lessons, judging that they would just let life go on and decide on a daily basis and not worry about the future.

_Beep-beep._

How many times had he not gazed at that ceiling, focusing on the overhead lighting to pass time and fight boredom?

He could not recall; he had been here so many times he could no longer remember--not that it made a difference, anyway.

But one thing he should be grateful for was the fact that he wasn't conscious to realize where he had once again ended up: the Geofront's underground Hospital, set next to the HQ pyramid. He had nearly always woken up in that very bed, right after an anti-Angel operation, often because of wounds or other trauma that had caused him either to closely flirt with Death or black out.

_Beep-beep._

The constant beeping that resounded off the room's immaculate walls sounded, to some pessimistic ears, like a dirge of sorts, the dull electronic sound nonetheless providing warmth to some people as they were a testimony of how life won over the tests of destiny and the ordeals it threw at certain individuals. If a bystander or a visitor had gone beyond a mere cursory examination of the room and the equipment stored inside, he would have noticed a strange thing that would either have perplexed him or made him smile in an amused or fascinated way. The beeping was actually made of two sets of sound emitting in perfect synchronicity, both of them overlapping and mingling to create a single one.

_Beep-beep._

The sound of two hearts beating in unison.

Some would have called it a marriage of sorts--a union of hearts, had they not known the ambiguous and sometimes volatile (one-sided) nature of the relationship the two hearts' owners shared. Two organs working in utter perfection, in matching pace.

For once in life, Shinji Ikari and Asuka Langley Soryu were united in one respect.

In mind and in body.

_Beep-beep._

The permeating silence was seldom broken, save of course, from the small binary sounds made by the electrocardiographs' loudspeakers--the room having been deserted by the medical staff hours ago as they couldn't do any more to ensure their good recovery. Once again, the hospital room had regained its status as sanctuary from the hurts of the outside world, a lone haven in a sea of pain. Every few hours a nurse would quietly come in and check up the life-sustaining systems on both sides of the two beds, noting the vitals and the charts' readings on a small notepad, before tiptoeing out without waking the two sleeping pilots. Wires and tubes of many sorts littered the ground, linking the two teenagers to at least a half-dozen black boxes that would constantly analyze their biological readings and cross-check them to examine the new developments. A dozen blood bags hung from retractable railings, their contents seeping into thin tubes that ran across the children's limbs straight into small superficial veins, providing the wounded world saviors with nutrients-filled life fluid, to facilitate their bodies' recovery. Both of them were provided with an oxygen mask, their shallow breathing a low hum lost in the silence of the room.

What was most surprising was the type of bed used: a Clinitron. Those were huge rectangular, black slabs of plastic that contained liquid oxygen and rubber-coated steel balls. The soft orbs would be sustained by the fluid, and provide the patient with extreme comfort, giving him the feeling of floating, as the mattress showed an extraordinary amount of softness that was extremely popular among crippled people, whose spinal column requested extra caution when it came to providing it with a support. NERV, of course, had the means to buy at least a hundred of them for his topmost employees, namely the pilots and operations officers, who were constantly put in the line of fire and risked either death or dire wounds while fulfilling their duties to humanity. The Clinitrons would, for the time being, help the two teenagers recover faster by cutting the amount of stress channeled through their tired backs' nerves. Their brains would then have less information to process, even though their whole beings had gone into shock two days ago, in the aftermath of the battle, as a natural response to stress or trauma. The pilots seldom had body or flesh wounds but most of the pain and injuries incurred by the Evas was directly retransmitted through neural link to the Children, imparting them with the ordeal those beings, had they had complete consciousness of their own, would normally suffer. Those 'ghost pains' (not to be mistaken by the 'phantom pains' amputated individuals usually felt from their missing limbs) caused more problems than expected as they were only of a neural problem than a physical one. It was a trickery of the mind and nothing else, which meant that it would be harder to heal it as no one exactly -- or completely -- knew how the brains worked inside the skull. There would always be layers of reality they wouldn't be able to either locate or examine -- much like a prehistoric man trying to understand and use radio waves.

The body of the Third Child laid, completely still, as his thinking organ had once again lost its control over itself, relinquishing itself to the comfort of unconsciousness. Then, a twitch spread through the prone figure, the motion nearly invisible to human eye. The comatose pilot's fingers moved by but a millimeter, the motion saluted by a brief increase of activity from the electroencephalograph's printer. The oscillations on the two-meter long sheet of paper grew longer and higher, their amplitude nearly doubling in size and importance. Then, without warning, like a scream in a silent night, the still atmosphere of the room was broken by a sudden jerk of a yet unmoving body -- one that started to shift around as if trying to chase something from inside. The tossing and turning increased, just as the frail body started to show other signs of activity -- muscles rippling and contracting before relaxing and contracting again in an endless cycle. Shinji Ikari's electrocardiograph was now beeping like mad, the metronome-like sound reaching levels that some doctors would find alarming if not downright horrifying. On his back, between the shoulder blades, two bulges, equal in size and perfectly symmetrical to the spine, appeared, as if threatening to burst outwards, as if something was pushing inside.

_Beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep..._

The Third Child was having a seizure of sorts.

The very slightly tanned skin -- the direct result of Japan's increased heat level consequent to Second Impact -- suddenly turned ghost white, as if drained of its blood, and began to wrack up with ever-increasing tremors. Goosebumps appeared on the arms and legs, and sweat beads began to form on the tormented teenager's forehead. His head moved left and right, a frown spreading through his previously tranquil features, causing his teeth to grind against each other in invisible pain. Then, once again, black specks appeared on the Shinji Ikari's body. Little blots of ink that started join others and form an intricate network of dark threads that covered each square inch of the Third Child's skin. The lines bulged outwards, as if threatening to burst apart--the phenomenon eerily familiar to a certain blonde scientist who still dreamed of it at certain nights, when she could find her own sleep.

The Third Child's lips slightly opened, just as a small rasping sound came crawling from the tired teenager's voice box.

_"Rashiel."_

Then, like a storm settling down, the dark threads faded out, the Third Child's body returning to its previous state, just as his limbs' flailing diminished, until the worn-out, injured being fell once again back to the oblivion it previously resided mere minutes ago. The twin bulges disappeared, as if they hadn't been there, dissolving into nothingness.

_Beep-beep._

_Beep-beep._

And the only thing left in the hospital room that broke the silence were the twin beeps emitted by the two electrocardiographs, the sound of two hearts beating, but no longer in perfect unison.

Their accord had once again been stolen away by the plots of destiny.

* * *

Volcanoes had throughout millennia inspired fear in the hearts of Men. The ignorance of that species towards the physical laws that ruled our existence had increased the belief that the tantrums of the underworld were but the manifestations of angry deities who made those cones of hard rock belch with fire and rain down brimstone on the unfortunate human beings that would stand at arm's reach of the gods' wrath. In Mexico, to appease the anger of the immortal ones, people had even gotten to the point to adopt the rather barbaric custom of throwing living maidens in lakes of boiling magma as offerings to the heavens. In other countries, where animist cultures kept their domination on the autochthones' unrefined minds, sacrifices were made to quell the ire of those angry entities. But as Man had not yet deeply assimilated in itself its now flourishing or raging thirst to understand Nature, no one had tried to find another explication as to why those ripped open mountains erupted, causing death to fall on nearby villages in the form of either showers of stone or deadly fumes that would poison lungs and reap the life out of them. Empedocles was one of those who had endeavored to understand the workings of the inner part of the planet, but as their notions of science and knowledge weren't advanced enough to even advance an hypothesis to the quandary at hand, very few to none answers were given. For the anecdote, Empedocles threw himself in the crater of the Etna just because he couldn't understand the mysteries of volcanoes and in desperation, ended his life. The legend told that where he had once stood before stepping over the edge laid a single sandal. The peasants who found it then believed that the volcano didn't want it so spat it back.

The Mauna Loa was considered by many as the greatest volcano on Earth -- and, if that statement didn't do honor to truth, it was easily the biggest active one, as it was famous for its showers of lava that made it not also an attraction for tourists but also an incredible goldmine for geologists. And what was more was the fact that on its southern-eastern side sat the Kilauea, another crater that belched fire with the same dramatic fashion. Of ovoid shape, the Mauna Loa was one of the main landmarks of Hawaii, culminating at 4,170 meters over sea level. Its slopes had a low angle of incidence, which made it easily to climb if it weren't for the presence of many basaltic rocks that made the volcano's sides as chaotic and unwelcoming, driving the island's inhabitants towards the shore, where vegetation, softer ground and the presence of the sea were greater signs and promises of life to their own opinion. Nobody in his right state of mind would ever dare build his house on the great elliptic calderas of Mokuaweoweo -- the very summit of the Mauna Loa or its two lesser coalescent counterparts, North Bay and South Pit. The sides of the fire-breathing mountain went rent open in many places, where the ground had collapsed due to the laws of geology or was cleft asunder to form gaping rifts. Also were present smaller, somewhat insignificant craters, as well as cones of ashes. The perfect setting for a place named Hell or at least its less inhabited part.

After the Second Impact, the world had seen, adding another injury on top of the others it had just suffered from, a recrudescence in volcanic and seismic activity. In 2009, the bay of Sumatra, already ravaged at the very end of 2004 by a tidal wave, had been the unfortunate target of twenty-meter high tsunamis, claiming the lives of millions of people in South East Asia. Surprisingly and ironically, that act of terror instigated by Nature had been more efficient in putting the local conflicts on hold than the dozen treaties and international meetings witnessed during the last previous years. In 2010, Italy found itself gazing at a blazing Etna, while in Latin America, the Popocatepetl reclaimed its reign of fire and brimstone, wreaking havoc around and forcing several million people to evacuate towards the seashore for their safety. In the Philippines, the Mount Pinatubo, which had erupted in a spectacular display of destruction in 1991, started rumbling again, compelling the local authorities to declare a regional emergency state. Finally, in Bali, the Gunung Agung restarted smoking, a sight not witnessed for centuries by the island's occupants. The planet seemed to get angry and made itself known by its own ways. The Mauna Loa had not been spared by those changes. Even though it hadn't had any major eruption in the last decade, its crater had suffered from the hiccups of Mother Earth, as its edges began to crumble down, increasing its diameter by at least twenty meters. Two surveillance stations had been lately built to observe the development, at a safe distance from the open 'hole', as some people put it jokingly.

The Mauna Loa hadn't had any major eruption for several years - the Hawaiians having grown too accustomed to the display of fire to notice it anymore. The near-entirety of the island considered the activity as purely normal and constant. But that consideration was about to change.

It started very early in the morning, as a deep rumbling coming from a proverbial deep throat made itself known, startling the rare scientists gathered around the volcano from their sleep. Alarmed by the recrudescence of activity, half-sleepy people found their way towards the surveillance station, pouring over large charts and seismographs, trying to find a clue as to what was happening. Meanwhile, at the seashore, civilians noticed their animals acting in a most peculiar fashion. They were trying to flee away from a hidden danger. Back at the Mauna Loa, the stations' staffs noted that the ground was beginning to quake, as if shaking in fear, away from something that was slowly coming. On a common agreement, all individuals started to evacuate, running towards their 4x4s and leaving the now critical area. They knew that it wouldn't do them any good to stay near that doorway to hell and didn't mind at all leaving the region for a better, safer place. In less than one hour, the Mauna Loa's flanks were devoid of life.

Then it begun. It started by a grinding noise, that rang through the barren slopes of the volcano, soon accompanied by tremors that shook the land, each commotion building stronger and more violent. Rocks and little mountains of rubble started to shift, soon finding themselves rolling down the flanks of the Mauna Loa, as the earthquake reached its highest peak. Then, with a tearing sound, the ground was rent apart, leaving place to gaping chasms, filled with boiling lava. Smoke and deadly fumes shot up in swirling clouds, engulfing the summit and like a lethal crown of sorts, promising death to the world around. Then, in the dark haze surrounding the top of the volcano, a great flash surged outwards, followed by a gigantic crash that tore through the air. Burning lava kicked upwards, in enormous geysers, arcing in the sky before falling back towards the ground, in incandescent cascades of flame. Rivers of molten rock sped down the sides of the Mauna Loa, towards the ocean, longing for coldness.

For three full hours, the turmoil raged endlessly, explosions blasting away with a deadly frequency. The throbbing suddenly intensified when suddenly, time seemed to suspend itself, as the world froze over. The scenery seemed to teeter for a while, while the sky took on a reddish hue, as if bleeding from an unseen wound. Darkness gathered around the island, two seconds before a deafening detonation cleft the air asunder. The summit of the Mauna Loa disappeared in an orb of pure energy, desperately reaching for the heavens. Then came the pyroclastic clouds, a sort of swirling mass of dusty, ashy foam that descended from the crater towards the edges of the volcano at an incredible speed, chasing the air away and asphyxiating any living being in its path before engulfing it in a world of heat and noise. The eruption raged further, then, like an gory apotheosis to a building drama, the top of the Mauna Loa seemed to disintegrate, the rocky sides of the aperture glowing brightly before ceasing to exist, consumed by a inferno worthy of the apocalypse's itself. Then, from the inside of the volcano, rising slowly towards the sky, appeared a monstrous form, crushing the edges of the smoldering crater that stood in its path and adding ruin to the surrounding desolation.

It was mostly black, with specks of green, but those features couldn't be seen from the outside as red-hot magma dripped from the floating form, falling back into the crater in long, incandescent cascades of ruin. Billowing clouds of steam and gray smoke swarmed down the blackened cone of the Mauna Loa, like a rising mist, hiding everything from the rest of the island's view, rapidly advancing towards the edges of volcano. The mound of basalt trembled for a moment, its surface traveled by increasing tremors. In the dark haze that now engulfed the island's summit, flashes could be seen followed by rending booms, which sounded like gigantic hammers slamming down on a smith's anvils. The cycle of powerful crashes went on an on, until once again, silence took over.

It was then that the commotion seemed to calm down and the Angel started to move away from the ruined volcano.

Heading northwest.

Towards Japan.

* * *

The scene was one of desolation, which reminded clearly of Renaissance paintings about the Last Judgment of God onto Men. The decor was truly one of apocalypse, complete with the atmosphere, silence and reek of burnt powder and soil. The ground had been rent open in more than one place, leaving in its stead the illusion of a chaotic quarry, with its pits and piles of rubble scattered here and there, in mounds and unstable piles. Smoke still lingered, like a memory that wouldn't fade, even two days after the end of the battle, despite the change of weather--the mountains around the capital forming a natural barrier against the sea wind and thus preventing the mass of fresh air to cool down the region. The NERV workers, always on duty, even had to wear gas masks to avoid being intoxicated by the gasses, to which a prolonged lung exposure could be fatal or have painful consequences for one's breathing abilities. Even the arrival of vehicles and aircrafts and the building of temporary hangars over the place had not managed to create sufficient air currents to repel the foul air away. It was as if Nature had frozen into place, falling into a sudden impotency.

Almost as if it enjoyed the current situation, much to the human's displeasure.

The crater that marred the plain's surface would be one of the hardest tasks to fulfill, as the explosion had dug deep into the underground, destroying the first two armored layers of the Geofront's outer shell and creating critical cracks into the three next ones. As if the damage wasn't enough to give NERV's engineers sleepless nights, nine billion dollars' worth of equipment, landlines, canalizations and other miscellaneous objects had been lost to the wave of devastation, and that was only was happened in the upper levels. The damages incurred beneath were as bad as the other ones. The total loss cumulated to eighty-three billion dollars, according to NERV's first estimations--the final bill would be drafted in two weeks, and all officials knew that the one hundred billion-bar would be easily breached in the next few hours, as the buildings that had fallen next to the HQ pyramid had not been accounted yet in the list of destroyed materiel. Maintenance tunnels and other access shafts had also suffered from the assault, making the repairs more difficult, as the nearest heavy-ordnance elevators had been disabled by the blasts and forced the technical divisions to mobilize their biggest trucks and machines from other areas--making them drive around the city in order to go onsite, earning them another hard loss, that one being of time.

"I don't think Hiroshima, Nagasaki or even the old Tokyo after Second Impact looked as bad as this. It almost reminds me of those early-century drawings of the moon's surface."

Fuyutsuki held a handkerchief close to his nose, keeping the dust in the air out of his lungs. Most workers were not in Hazardous Materials Suits (Hazmat-S) to avoid any risks but the Vice and Supreme Commander had declined the offer to wear one, as they were just passing by to oversee the situation. "Mankind has a dangerous proclivity to beget death and destruction, professor. It shouldn't be surprising to you, since you worked, what, thirty years, in that field?" Gendo Ikari remarked, reminding the professor of his old desk at Kyoto University. "That was before your meddling with Fate got me out of my place!" retorted Fuyutsuki, turning away from the scene and leaving the catwalk on which the two men stood, before entering back in one the eight hangars that had been built around the battlefield."

"But you gladly accepted the opportunity to change history, didn't you?" smirked Ikari, remembering his words to his old mentor, before the artificial skeleton of what should have then become Unit 00. Fuyutsuki silently blistered at that, not wanting to stir the pain in his soul. Those were damned times, that had led him to discover the truth, revelations that made him so angered that one couldn't recognize the slightly graying, peaceful and benevolent metaphysical biology teacher. But the opportunity to change all that had gone wrong had in a way blinded him, as he accepted the Eva Project as a means to correct all wrongs inflicted by and to Humanity. It had taken him many years to understand that it only was but a forlorn hope, a dying flicker of light in the darkness. A void from which he couldn't now escape, as SEELE wouldn't allow any critical personnel to walk away from the program and spill secrets around for the world to see and read and consequently revolt. Warnings had been issued to him in most unpleasant ways, making him understand that his path was already drawn by higher authorities, and, whatever he thought of it, ill or good, he would have to continue helping Project E come to life.

"That was before all this enterprise turned into utter madness."

Gendo Ikari didn't respond, merely choosing to adopt his trademark smirk before following him inside the safe haven that was the hangar. A brightly lit room met his eyes, a nice change from the hellish atmosphere behind him. Closing the door behind him, the Supreme Commander changed the subject. Trivial matters had limited imparted time. "Anyway, the last...development has shown itself to be more a blessing to us than a curse, even though the damages are important, some of them even being irreparable."

"A blessing? How so?" sputtered the gray-haired officer, not understanding Ikari's statement and finding it rather revolting to consider the situation under such a light. He couldn't understand how a tragedy that had cost nearly five million people their life could be deemed 'a blessing'. But again, Gendo Ikari did not bother about the lives of others. Just the benefits he could reap from them.

"I was able, this morning, to convince the U.N. representative in Japan to raise our funds from the Security Council for defense and manning, even though it will be most likely that SEELE will take it up to send us some of their agents to spy on us. I didn't give the man much explanations but I gave him the idea that our automated defense systems weren't enough to counter the Angel attacks. I even compared it to mosquito bites on a rhinoceros' hides, if you see the picture." Fuyutsuki snorted at that, nevertheless recognizing the truth behind that last sentence. Angels had tougher hide than a nuclear fallout bunker had armor. "So you asked him to ship us a couple billion dollars to upgrade our systems, I presume?" asked Fuyutsuki. Ikari maintained his stone cold face but a note of calm appreciation could be heard in his reply. "Sharp as ever, professor. The answer is obvious. The new batch of Angels is indeed stronger than the first one - CERBERUS and ABADDON were barely able to keep them at bay but it was obvious that they would be unable to bring their targets down. They're a mere distraction."

"The United Nations have been mulling those lessons over the past year but have done nothing to improve the current situation. When they will learn that we are the last barrier between them and the promise of a future, they will probably learn from those lessons, that is, if they are willing to put aside their thirst of power," dryly declared Fuyutsuki, glancing at a map of Tokyo-03. "Indeed, old friend. But that's where the destruction of New Yokosuka comes in--very convenient, if it weren't for the loss of personnel the U.N. suffered in the process. I made it clear that the rebuilding of the port would be lengthy and painful--both for the military and the civilians. They will have to clear the wreck the city has become, tear down the ruins and rebuilding everything. Not to mention draw new plans, dig new underground foundations, build buildings, a new pier, eventually deepen the bay...the list is obviously endless. It's a long-term project. However, since a new Angel had arrived, it is rather certain that another one will soon arrive. And defense walls must be erected to meet its attack before it has a chance to wreak havoc in the entire country."

"And he agreed that easily?" asked a surprised Fuyutsuki. Ikari let a disdainful sneer form on his face. Politicians were the proverbial bane of NERV, even though the organization couldn't survive without them, an illogical-sounding paradox.

"Of course he wanted me to lower my requests to a more...reasonable level, but I made sure that he came to Tokyo-03 by a helicopter that would fly over the battlefield. Needless to say, it must have made an impression on him. But as soon as he goes back to Tokyo-02 where the old U.N. regional headquarters is, he will be assailed by local officials who will vouch for their own causes and harass him until he makes them some promises. That, of course, is without mentioning the presence of lobbying groups in the old capital, as well as factions that want to take advantage of the situation to either fulfill their hopes or instill their ideas on the public. The U.N. is less and less appreciated in Japan, these days, and the Security Council would most likely make a gesture towards the Japanese population to get back in their good graces. But if we hold a Damocles' sword over their head--namely the risk of an Angel attack, they will know what decision to make, without a second thought."

"Secretary Kametes must be tearing his hair off his head," murmured an amused Fuyutsuki, recalling the volatility of the Greek U.N. General Secretary. "More money to throw away and no way to control it and oversee its destinations and a dangerous dilemma on his hands. Not to mention a huge scandal and tragedy about the loss of New Yokosuka."

"His worries are irrelevant to us. What matter is the fact that we will use them. Especially for the new project."

Fuyutsuki narrowed his eyes, dreading the worst. They had a least a dozen plans and projects intensely discussed between them, and most of them were based on less-than-honest principles, like money smuggling, laundering, blackmail and other schemes to ensure that NERV's bank accounts would not deplete until at least ten years. "Project HANIEL."

"HANIEL? The R&D division has finally finished the plans?" Surprise was evident in the old man's eyes--those emotions would get him a heart attack one day, he knew it.

_What else are you hiding behind my back, Ikari? That's the second thing I wasn't aware of, especially after your talking with the U.N. representative this morning._

"Indeed. The efforts were sped up a few months ago after the problems the Eighteenth Angel caused; I believe it will give us more advantages over the battlefield."

"How much will it cost?"

"Not much," answered Ikari. "The prototypes were built a while ago, but they will but rebuilt into production models as soon as possible. The launchers, however, will take more time, manpower, money and resources."

"And where will we build it? If I recall correctly, the launcher needs to be at least two hundred meters high to catapult an Eva with sufficient speed to make it airborne!"

Ikari answered with a smile, before turning towards the reinforced window behind him. Fuyutsuki's gaze followed his former student's eyes, finally setting down on the enormous, gaping crater that stood outside, around which dozens of excavators and bulldozers were gathering, like an army laying siege to a castle. His own eyes widened in realization and understand. _Of course, how convenient! The Angel did our own job with minimal effort. How brilliant. He's got a big hole already dug out halfway to the Geofront--how could he let that opportunity pass away? It should have been obvious!_

"You've got the answer right in front of you, professor."

The rumble of diesel engines resounded outside, like the growl of a storm gathering before losing its rage out.

* * *

_"Early estimations place the body count at three million victims and two million other people not yet accounted for. Those latest numbers are nonetheless the result of early conjectures, for there are hardly intact or recognizable bodies to recover and body count estimations can only be based on demography archives. Most of the city is either buried under ashes and rubble or was completely destroyed in the blast. The Kanto region authorities, however, remain silent on the true statistics as well as the death toll, for those who..."_

Zap.

_"...Help the now homeless people near New Yokosuka by donating money or giving non-perishable goods to our services, by either calling the number at the bottom of the screen or going at our nearest offices. The collected goods will then be redistributed to the New Yokosuka survivors and help them to live through their ordeal. Demonstrations and gatherings will be carried out in order to..."_

Zap.

_"...How could the United Nations be so careless in the management of their own high-risk level facilities? There were nuclear bombs in there, for God's sake! The rescue groups onsite have reported a slight amount of radioactive dust at ground zero, just outside the safety margin -- it's a miracle if the bombs didn't detonate and leveled the whole region! Our party will try to pass a new law about weapons of mass destruction's control so that our people's safety will be ensured..."_

Zap.

_"...Sea traffic is heavily disturbed, as ships do not have a port to dock in anymore and are often forced to go in smaller ports, just to find themselves unable to transfer their goods because of a lack of proper equipment..."_

Zap.

_"New General Secretary Nikolas Kametes has answered with a two-hour long statement about the New Yokosuka tragedy and has promised Japan a forty-billion dollar help to rebuild the city and secure the area. Most of the help will be in the form of food, medical and technical equipment, as well as..."_

"This country's a mess..." sighed Kensuke, looking at the television screen and at the face of a crowded hospital, full of wounded and confused people, trying to learn what had happened and to come to grips with reality. The face of a bloodied person came into view, as he was wheeled on a gurney towards the emergency room, followed by reporters who took the melodramatic atmosphere for their own uses.

_"...The United States have already sent three heavy payload aircrafts full of medical equipment towards Chiba, where they will be redirected to the disaster area. China has only expressed its horror towards the tragedy and promised help in the next few days..."_

"That's an understatement!" murmured the class representative, Hikari Horaki, as she watched the ruins of New Yokosuka, seen from a helicopter. The city was a blackened mass of torn metal, charred stone and pulverized rubble. Not a single building was standing, a testimony of the explosion's violence. Somehow, it reminded them of pictures of Hiroshima just after its bombing. They had seen videos in the history course at school but couldn't grasp yet the feeling of chaos and destruction that had reigned in those times. "It's so horrible. Three million people...just...just dead! In one second!"

"Yeah, freaking..." agreed Touji Suzuhara from the couch, fingering his own prosthetic arm, feeling the coldness of the polished plastic. "...When Shinji told me that piloting Eva was no fun, I had no idea how true it was, even when we happened to enter in the...the Entry-Plug..." he looked at the bespectacled military fanatic beside him, recalling those bloodcurdling minutes where they missed being killed by a falling Eva, before risking being disemboweled by a praying mantis-like Angel's tentacles. "...and even after...after..." he shook his head, as unwelcome images came back to his mind. "...after I got hurt, I had but a slight idea of what the Pilots were risking."

"But that's horrible! They have to go against things that can do that?" whispered Hikari, pointing at the television.

_"Meanwhile, in Tokyo-03, NERV has issued a statement declaring that a major weapons upgrade would be undertaken in the next few weeks, as a sped-up attempt to improve the city's defenses and interception capabilities. Damages incurred during the attack are currently unknown, but sources inside the ministry have reported it to be over the seventy billion dollars' mark."_

"Yeah, pretty much. But, you're right about one thing: they weren't that destructive, save for the one that took out Tokyo-03. The other ones would one attack the Evas, not the city."

"Really? But then, how...?" asked Kensuke.

"Dunno. Seems like the rules changed or something like that," shrugged Touji, lost in his own thoughts. "Life's not something carved in stone, you know? Always changes."

"Sounds true," answered Aida. "By the way, what's this that I heard? The school is going to close for two weeks?" he asked, turning towards the class representative, whose job was to inform the other students about changes in the schedule and give them other sorts of announcements. The freckled, pigtailed girl shook her head and sighed. "It seems that a debris fell on building 4A, the one we're in. Since the archives and major education facilities were in there, it was deemed impossible to continue giving lessons until the building was repaired. From what our physics professor told me, a big chunk of rock went through the roof down to the first floor, causing a lot of damage along its way. The principal has declared 4A as 'not safe' and 'risking an eventual collapse' so he issued a statement to all representatives and professors to call the lessons off for two weeks or more if there are delays."

"Two weeks, hunh? Those school breaks are getting longer and longer. Last time it was one week because water and electricity were cut off. Now it's two weeks," remarked Kensuke. "I wonder why the city still thinks education is important, anyway. Our professor is rambling like a stuck tape player, and we're always interrupted for a reason or another. Not to mention that the students are relocating to other cities like Osaka or Tokyo-02."

"NERV, okay? Lots of students have NERV employees as parents so they need to stay here..." said Touji, shrugging. His own father belonged to the Public Relations division of the U.N. organization and worked long hours, often leaving him and his now-hospitalized sister alone at home. "Apart from that, it's the capital, so they need to keep up appearances."

"Yeah...okay. And, what about Shinji and Asuka?" asked Hikari, wanting to change the subject. Learning that her friends had to fight those evil beings made her blood turn cold and sour, a feeling she found extremely disagreeable. It sometimes made her want to vomit.

"...I rang them at least a dozen times, and I always ended up on their voice mail. Cannot reach them and don't ask me why. I don't want to know. Not now," Touji shook his head. "It's always the same thing after a battle. They don't answer their phone--it's...as if their war was taking them away from our world...I cannot put it in a better way." Hikari and Kensuke silently agreed as both had seen the scars the Pilots sported -- the results of fighting beings under the orders of God. No one ever walked away from a confrontation with an Angel with at least a form of wound or reminder and the chosen progeny had learnt it the hard way, to their great expense.

"I know. I've seen the way Asuka behaved after she got her mind messed with. She looked like a living corpse," murmured Hikari, recalling the sunken eyes of her friend and the paleness of her face. The changes she had observed in the German girl had in a way marked her, like a slap in the face. That actually was the first time--well, without counting Touji's accident--that she had gotten to see the effects of the battles NERV waged on the monsters that sought to put an end to Mankind.

Aida, who still held a grudge against the redheaded pilot, slowly cracked a smile, but didn't break into a grin, as he knew the matter was nothing to rejoice for. Touji, on the other hand, retained his grave countenance, feeling deep but out-of-character sympathy for the 'Devil' as he used to call her. The Angels had cost him an arm and a leg, plus a handicap that would trouble him for the rest of his life, even though he would grow accustomed to it. But the phantom pains originated from the missing limbs would torture him in a most subtle, refined and cruel way. "Shinji didn't look any better--but then...I don't really recall him cracking a smile every now and then...it was really a rare occurrence, don't you think so?" Both other teens nodded. "He always seemed distant, as if he couldn't completely relate to us...confide in us. I guess I know why, now..." he muttered, gazing at his prosthetic arm, with regret in his eyes. "He's sort of...in his own world, away from us, I guess."

"Why do they always have to be the ones to suffer?" whispered Hikari. Her unhappiness was tearing through her tone and both boys could see that she was upset.

"I don't know," answered Touji, turning towards her. "But sometimes...I don't think it's because of what they _do_...but because of what they _are_."

Little did he know that his statement held more truth than anything else in this world.

And they were going to find it out the hard way.

* * *

_**To be continued...**_

* * *

**A/N:**

There. You got chap. 11 even though it has been sitting on my PC ever since January - yeah, no kidding, though it was only completed two months ago then I grew engrossed in a lot of things. Exams (which I failed), Gundam SEED Destiny, Potterverse (Harry Potter fanfiction), PC gaming...you get the idea. This chap, unfortunately, is unbeta'ed and just spellchecked. I'm trying to get chap. seven of HP-AVC done and I'm spending as much time as possible on it since that series is also an experiment on my part, writing style-wise. Sorry. Oh, did you notice? I changed my penname from 'ABI2301' to 'Soultaker-07' since 'Soultaker7' is my forum name. I'll keep on signing my fics under 'ABI2301', though. No worries. Not that it matters, anyway...

Anyway, BTW, here are some miscellaneous facts:

**01°)** The Clinitron is an actual system, very popular among the paraplegic people whose spine need extreme comfort because of the damages they already endured. The Clinitron weighs at least a ton and is extremely voluminous for a bed but incredibly comfortable. Those who had the chance to try it often say that 'they hardly feel the bed's touch'. The Clinitron was taken from Jeffery DEAVER's books, and more exactly the Lincoln Rhyme series (_The Bone Collector_, _The Coffin Dancer_, etc.).

**02°)** The legend about Empedocles is true, unless one counts the part with the lost sandal and how the local villagers interpreted that discovery and therefore wove a story around it. Scholars in those times often found science as a necessary art to learn in order to get a grasp of reality's dimensions and subtleties. Thus, it is not surprising if philosophers were often found to love studying geometry, arithmetic and other disciplines that would heighten their soul and sharpen their minds. Empedocles (approx. 490 B.C. -- 430 B.C.) was a philosopher renowned for his concept about uniqueness and multiplicity, where he believed that the uniqueness often divided itself to form multiplicity in more than one aspects of life. He believed that unity and division were an endless cycle found in the universe. From there he wrote his own opinion about genesis and how the four elements (earth, air, fire and water) created the world around us. Empedocles is also famous for his theories about the love/hate antagonism and about how the four elements can be found everywhere in the Nature as every matter known to Mankind is a substitute or a creation of the four original ones (for example, blood was sprung from fire).

**03°)** Haniel is also called Hanael or Aniel, and is an angel whose name means "the grace of God". Sometimes known as the Patron Angel of Air, he is generally credited with the title of prince or chief of the angelic orders or choirs of the principalities and virtues. As such, he is honored as one of the seven great archangels in several lists. It should also be noted that his supposed task as patron of air should be considered with great care, as it is usually that of the Angel Chasam, but very few information about both is available to tell which tradition is right and which isn't.


	12. Chapter 12: Am I Too Lost To Be Saved

**Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Beast Inside**

**Written by abi2301**

**Chapter 12**

**v.01: 02/17/2005**

Official disclaimer: the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series are the intellectual and material property of Gainax Studios, ADVision, Inc., Shonen Ace magazine, Hideaki Anno and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. All rights reserved. 'NGE: The Beast Inside' is a purely fictional series based upon the original NGE and written for entertainment purpose only. No money is made out of it.

* * *

**Chapter 12: _Am I Too Lost To Be Saved / A Fallen Angel Among Us_**

_Then I, however, showed again, by action, not in word only, that I did not care a whit for death...but that I did care with all my might not to do anything unjust or unholy._

**SOCRATES, on being ordered by the Thirty Commissioners to take part in the liquidation of Leon of Salamis; in _Plato Apology_ 32d**

_You only have power over people as long as you don't take everything away from them. But when you've robbed a man of everything he's no longer in your power -- he's free again._

**Alexander SOLZHENITSYN, _The First Circle_ (1968) ch. 17**

_How can you expect a man who's warm to understand one who's cold?_

**Alexander SOLZHENITSYN, _One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich_ (1962) p. 2 (translated by Ralph Parker)**

* * *

"Rei is in the hospital? What happened?"

It was futile to say aloud that Misato Katsuragi wasn't one to take bad news kindly or without flinching. Her entourage would then agree that that observation would be the greatest understatement of the century, even though many years were left to come for the later generations to prove that wrong.

"Nobody knows exactly -- Section Two saw her collapsing on the sidewalk on her way back home. Some minor fit of sorts. Might be tiredness, though, since I didn't find any signs of viral activity or external agents in her blood. Fatigue is probably the cause of her problems" replied Ritsuko Akagi, not stopping entering commands on her personal computer, with her trademark high speed. "She was rushed to the hospital where she is currently held until she gains back some strength."

Misato Katsuragi frowned, her eyes becoming near slits in suspicion. "That doesn't sound like Rei, collapsing out of exhaustion. She always was in good health and never showed any signs of illness."

Ritsuko Akagi didn't bother to answer the hidden implications of the statement. _She must think that I'm lying -- once again. Well, what I'm saying is just incomplete truth. There are just some aspects of the current situation that you don't need to know for your own good, Misato. Delving into matters that are as safe as a saturated minefield is not good for one's life and you should know it by now._ "That's what we thought, too. But it seems that her body, even though more resistant than ours, is still privy to some variable limitations. Lack of sleep and overwork might have caused her to lose strength."

"Hmmm. I see," mumbled Misato Katsuragi, turning away from her old friend and walking up to the window, looking straight at the HQ pyramid, the long-standing symbol of Mankind's ultimate ambition - the ascension towards heaven. "Still...what are we going to do, now? Two pilots are in the hospital and one is, according to what you've told me, out of combat because of physical issues. How are we going to manage that?"

Ritsuko Akagi's fingers stopped dancing over the keyboard, as the doctor turned on her chair to face the purple-haired major. The look on the scientist's face was one of indecisiveness and was not lost upon the Director of Operations. "I don't know. Command is reluctant to draft another Child, after the fiascoes of the Fourth and Fifth Children. And there is also the fact that we do not have any Eva for any new personnel. Unit 01 only answers to Shinji, Unit 02 is still in recovery in cage eight and Unit 05 will be landing tomorrow Misawa Air Force Base. We don't have any options left to salvage the situation," she summed, her gaze losing itself in the decor.

"Which is a mess, I should say," added Misato, cringing in worry. "If an Angel attacks in the meantime, we're sunk and good for Armageddon."

"Good to see you understand the risks, Misato," replied Akagi, returning back to work. "You should talk to Maya to get an update on the Pilots' status, though. I didn't have much time to check up on them -- our Commander saw it fit that I focus my attention and efforts on bringing back Unit 02 at a fully operational state."

"Doesn't surprise me," spat Misato, making for the door, wanting to leave the office and walk away from the rain of bad news that was falling on her. "He cares more for the Evas than the Children. How a bastard can be as cruel as that, I don't know and I don't think anybody will ever be able to beat him in the near and far future, either."

"Oh, I wouldn't bet on that, Misato," remarked Akagi with a sorry smile, relishing the sense of modest irony that wafted in her thoughts. "History has a strange knack for repeating itself. And at each iteration, it gets worse than ever."

Akagi couldn't place it better as she was a living example of that phenomenon.

But of course, neither of the two individuals stated that out loud. Both knew it and there was no need to reopen old wounds.

The only thing they could do was look forward to the future and brace themselves against the tests it would bring with it.

As best as they could.

* * *

"So I gather that she is of no more use to us?" inquired Fuyutsuki, turning his gaze off the giant form of the submerged Eva Unit 01, still in confinement and under twenty meters of cryostasis.

"Rei's true purpose has ended the moment we had reached the stalemate in the REUNION project. She was of Lilith's blood only and therefore couldn't provide us with the means to go forward with our plans" replied Gendo Ikari, looking at the silent mecha with detachment. It had been two days since Rei had been admitted to the hospital and his reaction to the news had been everything but agitated or worried. Instead, he took it with calm, even, for the onlooker, with a sliver of expectancy, as if he knew that Rei's...accident would eventually happen.

"I see. I trust _they_...both are responsible for that?" asked the old professor, staring at the lighting overhead. Things were not turning to their advantage, at least in his own opinion. And, as he expected it, Ikari thought otherwise.

"It should be obvious, Fuyutsuki. The moment the two...merged...or should I say entered a state of cohabitation...Rei's role in this world ceased to exist."

"The weakest contestant of a battle always fall first and the strongest always get away with...the...prize, for a lack of better term, isn't it?"

"Interesting metaphor, old friend. Rei's disappearance from the Project shouldn't exactly hinder our plans, since Doctor Akagi's removal of the other vessels put her role at risk. She became a liability the day her other bodies disappeared. Her slipping out of our control was completely unacceptable...so her relinquishing her task to someone of greater strength is nothing to us but a very convenient blessing." Gendo Ikari's smirk reappeared, a blatant sign of his feeling of superiority and dominion over the world.

"Then what shall we do about her? I don't see you cutting her out of our pilot roster, that would be highly unlikely of you" remarked the gray-haired professor, letting the unspoken snide at his erstwhile student linger in the air. The Supreme Commander of NERV, however, did not retaliate, as usual, merely choosing instead to press matters further.

"She shall be reassigned as a normal pilot, as she has become no more than that."

Fuyutsuki turned around at that, an eyebrow quirked in interrogation. "Really? What about her role in Ascension? You surely realize that..." he began, before his interlocutor cut in with a wave of the hand.

"I take it you didn't hear Doctor Akagi's appraisal of Rei's...physical development, did you?" Fuyutsuki remained silent at that, opting for a puzzled frown.

"Rei...ever since her...accident...has also been undergoing some...changes in her body."

"WHAT?"

"I suggest you lower your voice, professor. Our neighbors in China have rather sensible ears," Ikari retorted. Fuyutsuki glared at the almighty director of NERV and kept silent, crossing his arms over his chest and tacitly urging his superior to explain himself. "As you must have heard, she had been placed in the intensive care ward since her status of pilot entailed high-level medical procedures to speed recoveries of whatever injuries should be inflicted on her. Even though her state wasn't that alarming - the symptoms being like that of extreme fatigue or even extenuation - she was placed under observation. Dr. Akagi, knowing the...particularities of her body, in blood chemistry, genetics and anatomy, decided to put her under constant vitals scan. In less than twenty-four hours, her genotype and genetic makeup have drastically changed. Her phenotype, however, remains the same."

Fuyutsuki stared at Gendo Ikari with wide open eyes, not believing what he had just heard. _What? Ten years of hard work just for...just for...THAT? What the hell is happening, Ikari, what aren't you telling me?_ he thought. The _coup de grace_, however came in the form of single statement.

"To sum it up, her genome is now nearly identical to that of a normal human being."

* * *

Space.

A world of void, completely hostile to any form of unprotected life, cold and without air. A universe of death and stillness born by the turmoil of chaos eons ago.

In this realm of infinite dimensions, however, a sense of order had sprung from the uncontrolled forces that tried to stabilize themselves in order to survive. Entities and phenomena were created as laws of physics defined themselves, the second where the Big Bang occurred and existence became real. Nebulas and stars formed in this frozen immensity, traveling the 'skies' in their endless journey, oblivious to the animosities of lesser creatures like Men and other forms of life. In this place everything lost its importance - washing in the sense of peace the galaxies and Milky Way radiated. A feeling of abandon towards the scales of magnitude that unfathomable world showed. Many an individual had gazed upon the stars to see there their destiny or a sign of Fate. A proof of God's existence.

In a certain point of view, people tried to find there, in those crowds of shiny pinpricks, in those fields of darkness, the signature of a higher being. The reason for their existence.

Little did they know that actually there was a truth behind their delusions.

Even though this universe was nothing but the consequence of a unbridled forces battling each other according to the rules of Nature, unknown power had partaken in the building of this kingdom of death. The signs were of course very hard to find but when one relinquished to nothingness his preconceptions and dared to look beyond his own perceptions, he could catch a glimpse of higher beings' doings. Of course, they were extremely difficult to find - so much that people dismissed them as mere coincidences or illusions. Mankind was not meant to look upon God's designs. Merely to accept his destiny and the orders of the Heavens.

But that species, once again, did not obey the words of the Elder Ones.

It had begun with the breaking of holy boundaries. Destroying nature - taming the world. Walking beyond the set barriers by going in the immensities of the zephyr and well beyond that. By trespassing those frontiers Men had believed to find in their feats the sign of their greatness and forsaken the lessons learnt through the centuries. Through millennia of blood, gore and endless destruction and genocides. They had begun setting many a contraption to scan the universe and search there the remnants of their past, like a grown-up individual would look at a book containing the pictures of his childhood. Forbidden secrets were unveiled each second. For Mankind's impending doom.

Gungnir had been launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) in 2010, as a joint effort with the NASA to keep an eye on atmospheric developments and recording of all major meteorological events occurring in the meantime. For the engineers who designed the system, the name was very fitting as it was related to thunder, a phenomenon Gungnir was also tasked to monitor and analyze through its service lifetime. Launched by a Titan-3 space rocket, Gungnir's control was handed over to the UN two years after by the demand of the Security Committee. Annul heat level had skyrocketed in the last decennia and the ascension of the temperature showed no sign of stopping. In an attempt to discover the reason behind that dangerous problem that could easily mean new problems for Humanity, Gungnir had become the spearhead of the UN's real-time surveillance systems.

Gungnir was currently 'flying' over the Pacific Ocean, lazily continuing its travel in Low Earth Orbit, as close to the highest layers of atmosphere as it could. Its SLEIPNIR high-resolution, infrared camera was focusing on an abnormal number of cumuli-nimbuses that held a high concentration of heavy dust that were not compliant with the local parameters. The American NOAA and other governmental agencies had requested a certain number of satellites such as the famed SOPHIA and STARGAZER to divert their exoatmospheric trajectory towards Hawaii's latitude ever since one of the island's great volcanoes had once again erupted. Many geologists after the Second Impact had voiced the fears of seeing a recrudescence in volcanic activity. In the USA, the fear was even greater as research and surveillance stations in the Yellowstone Park recorded an increase in pressure inside the super-volcano's main chimney hidden beneath that area. If that feared monster were once again to belch its fire and cover the local landscape in ash and deadly fumes the repercussions on the whole country - and continent - would be catastrophic. The numbers were already high enough to guarantee some ecologists some years of sleepless nights. In consequence, the President of the United States (known as POTUS by his own entourage) had ordered the NASA to fire the Gungnir's boosters and bring it over the small archipelago and analyze whatever was collected by the machine's antennas and videos. Forty kilometers away, soaring in a parallel trajectory to Gungnir was another system called PROPHET - a radar satellite sometimes used for military SIGINT and ELINT operations - a cousin of the RHYOLITE.

Both contraptions' cameras zoomed on the huge, dark cloud that hovered over the Mauna Loa, using their GPS database to locate the volcano. Since visibility was null there was no way their observation systems could lock on the landmark without even a small margin of error. The huge cloud of ashes emitted electromagnetic readings, as incredible as it could sound, as the microscopic particles in suspension in the huge mass of gray were rubbing against each other. Combined to the fact that there were heat differences above the Pacific ocean thunderbolts could be seen zigzagging in the sky, ruining an eventual radar or EM satellite scan.

Therefore the only resort the Gungnir and the PROPHET were left with was IR vision. Every body in the universe that had heat - in essence was hotter than the absolute zero temperature level (minus 273° Celsius or 00° Kelvin) - radiated that particular form of wave and it would be quite easy to see through the black cloud, as the particles of ashes were slowly cooling down as they floated above the ocean, in the high to intermediate layers of the atmosphere. By creating a map of the heat blob the two satellites would register on their cameras, they would nonetheless be able to monitor the eruption, although sending a man with a video cam, on foot, ten miles away from the crater, would give more results. Technology was technology and human arrogance remained human arrogance.

The SLEIPNIR readjusted its lenses and added a few more filters coated with magnesium and germanium to block the superficial amount of high-frequency radiations and let only the IR pass through the disks of treated diamond. After a few seconds of digital remodeling, the onboard computer sent a hundred frames towards Sidney's observatory and Cape Canaveral, two NASA outposts where the data would be analyzed. The view of the erupting Mauna Loa sent chills through the technicians' spines but another detail they spotted on the pictures made them shiver even more that it perplexed them.

Two hundred miles away from Hawaii, heading northwestwards, was another high source of heat.

The IR signature was so intense that scientists could even mistake it for that of a newly-emerged volcano.

As soon as the new phenomenon was discovered, a call from the NASA's director made a certain phone in Tokyo-03 ring with urgency.

* * *

_What does it feel to be no more? To be...erased and reborn?_ asked the voice. _What I find strange and otherwise fascinating is the fact that you don't know how precious something was to you until you lose it. I guess you're no exception to that rule, right?_ it taunted. Rei Ayanami, however, thanks to her strict education, didn't take the bait, oblivious to the provocation lying underneath the poison-filled words. She was lying on her hospital room's bed, white, sterilized sheets surrounding her like walls of sorts, protecting her against the evils outside. Her gaze remained fixed on the ceiling, never wavering, never breaking away, save for a few blinks of the eye. An IV needle was stuck in her arm, feeding her a sugar-filled fluid, giving back her lost strength. On her sides, two plate-like antenna arrays kept sending waves towards her body, analyzing the changes it was undergoing. Every two hours a nurse would check her up, eliciting little to no response from the girl. Her mind was elsewhere, going over matters of grave importance. Ones that would decide of a life's direction.

Why must you torment me? Isn't it enough that I am no more the one I once was? I am mortal now. I am human. What else do you want? she asked emotionlessly, even though tiredness pierced the edge of her sentence. Even though the sentence was just spoken, one could actually hear, in her head, the weariness that permeated her words. One with great sensitivity could even perceive a bit of desperation woven in the monotonous reply, but that emotion was so faint that it was nearly indiscernible.

_Merely to see how well you would fare in your new world. I wonder how your...friends...or acquaintances would react to your changing. Well, I guess that they wouldn't even notice it as your behavior won't radically change, anyway. You would still remain the same, silent and solitary Rei. The lonely girl with blue hair and crimson eyes. The one that suffers in silence, away from the others._

I don't understand it yet...but I trust you are right in that aspect. But you are maybe wrong.

The voice then proceeded to laugh at her answer, his mirth slowly changing into wry chuckles. _Ah, yes. The unpredictability of life -- nothing is carved in stone, as some say. I see that you are indeed taking lessons from the Lillims. I suppose I should be happy for you._

And should I?

_Then you would first have to feel happiness, which is impossible since you don't know what it is_, shot back the mysterious interlocutor.

Must you remind me of my failure to feel like the others? Why do you do that? Who are you? What are you? she asked, wearied by those soul-ripping discussions.

_Do you really need to ask? _replied the voice with a sardonic sigh, sounding tired by those questions.

Yes, she replied, firmness edging on her tone.

_Even if you know the answer, deep in your heart, in the most remote recesses of your conscience?_ the mysterious being inquired, seriousness returning full-force in his inflections.

Yes, she answered again. The voice remained silent for a moment, as if pondering its answer then spoke up.

_To you, I am your complement. For others, a figment of your imagination -- of your mind. In essence I am nothing but the missing piece of an incomplete puzzle. I am what you lack and will never have. I am that which you desperately long for even though you cannot recognize the feeling for what it truly is. I am your other self. The last step to wholeness. To happiness and completion._

Rei's eyes widened as she took the revelation in.

_I am the part of your soul that you shunned away the day you relinquished the ownership of your destiny to a desperate man who wished nothing but to be reunited with a lost individual, one that was dear to him and now gone beyond his reach. I am the lost fragment of a broken artifact. The forsaken self. The hidden part of the iceberg. Your unconscious, some would say._

My...complement?

_Yes...the splinter of your soul that you will never have back._

Why? she asked weakly, feeling another wave of nausea rising inside her. These talks with...herself...seemed to greatly indispose her.

_Because my purpose has ended. I have no more reason to be in this plane of existence. In a matter of time I'll fade away and leave you here to your destiny. Even if those who dwell high in Heaven know what you will become, which path you will take is up to you. Your destiny or what is left of it is now yours to decide. And the implied responsibilities will be yours to take._

But...

_I have said enough. I must go now._

And with that, the ethereal voice fell silent, leaving a half-broken Rei Ayanami to think over and over the past revelations.

And abandon her to a growing sense of desperation.

* * *

Maya Ibuki looked at the LCD in front of her and let out a tired sigh; she had worked for twenty-six hours nonstop on the two incapacitated Children's recovery and fate seemed to enjoy making her suffer, drawing more and more tasks for the short-haired tech to attend to. She had, of course, had enough experience as a 'bridge bunny' to survive through major MAGI checkups and digital protocol rewrites, but this was getting ridiculous. The worst was that her ordinary professional beacon and mentor, Dr. Akagi, was nowhere in sight to either assist her or help her go through her business. She had to process thousands of information bits in a matter of hours, process and classify them all that while taking steps for the future tests. The last part was supposed to facilitate her job the next time she would have to deal with a pilot's injury but it looked like it only worsened the already complicated process. Long hours of looking at a computer screen's did nothing either to soothe her tired eyes and her worn-out body. She lacked sleep and the doses of caffeine she took to keep herself awake was completely destroying her. Her mind stayed alert but her body was close to shutdown.

"I really wonder how, with all the billion dollars we are given on a yearly basis, we can still lack manpower," she lamented, feeling loneliness in her job. She needed someone to share her ordeals and ease the inner pain.

Beside her, the quiet form of Shinji Ikari, still lying on his hospital bed, began to stir. The pilot's head turned to the left while one hand clenched around the sheets, eliciting from the fabric a soft rustle. Even if the motion was quite imperceptible to the naked eye, the sound, however, did not get lost on Maya Ibuki's ears. The technicians started with a muffled gasp, turning towards the source of the disturbance.

_He must be waking up_, she thought, rising from her chair to get a closer look at him. She immediately went to the flat-screen computer on the Third Child's bedside, looking at the bar chart displaying the pilot's state of consciousness. "Three point seven points before awakening -- impressive," she breathed. "He's really feeling better." A new movement from Shinji's arm made her turn her head and made her aware of the frown that was slowly spreading on the teenager's features.

"Shinji?" she asked, setting a comforting hand on the young man's shoulder and shaking it lightly. She knew she shouldn't interrupt his well-deserved sleep but when you worked in NERV one had to adopt a different behavior. All trivial or secondary matters had to be discarded in favor of Humanity's salvation. And the Children were the key to their endeavor's success. She however regretted not having Major Katsuragi at her side - she would have been delighted, no, in tears, to see that her charge was going well and returning back to life. _There is nothing more exhilarating than to see someone come to life. It makes us forget the omnipresence of death_, had once said her father. How true it was. Shinji Ikari stirred in his bed, rolling his head from left to right as if to shake something or someone away. Whatever was nagging his fevered mind was not pleasant and had to be shoved away from his conscious. "Shinji - wake up," she beckoned softly, trying not to make any rash maneuvers.

The neurological and encephalic tests NERV had performed on both Children came up with negative results. It was a necessary procedure to ensure that no pilot would come back with a corrupted mind, infected from the Angels. If such a scenario was to come true, extremely drastic - top-of-the-notch radical - measures were to be taken and they implied terminating the aforementioned individual and incinerating his corpse to destroy any evidence or minor risks of further contamination. Two Angels had proven to be of parasitic nature and could interact with electronic systems - a feat many had deemed impossible yet proved wrong during those infamous attacks. If one of those monsters were to access the MAGI Network through a contaminated Child, then Mankind's last chance to find peace was doomed to nothingness.

Shinji moaned - the sound sending chills through Maya Ibuki's spine as she took in the pain that permeated the inarticulate message of suffering. Just as she was going to put her hand over the Third Child's body she saw her charge's eyes snap up, as if he had anticipated her gesture. "OH!" She immediately took a step back, alarmed at Shinji's newfound awareness, holding a hand over her frenzied heart. _I really ought to steel myself otherwise I'll get a heart attack one of these days - assuming I don't die from an Angel attack first!_ she admonished herself, trying to smile but failing miserably. The young man stared at her, narrowing his eyes as if not recognizing her. _Must be the shock, he's still confused_, Maya told herself. "Sorry, Shinji - you startled me."

"Uh -"

She came back to the back, checking the Third Child's temperature and noticing it was rather high. 38.01° Celsius. Fever. Not unpredictable as it was the natural reaction of the human body against trauma or inner attacks from certain organisms. His bloodstream would now be streaming with a lot of nutrients, antibodies and globules in an effort to get rid of whatever was plaguing his entrails. She went back to her laptop, connected it to the next life-sustaining vat and ordered a new body scan from the various instruments hooked up around the wounded pilot. Too embroiled by what she was inputting and too concentrated on the task at hand, Maya Ibuki didn't see Shinji's questioning gaze following her every step, his frown deepening as electronic boxes set around the bed began beeping and whirring loudly.

Maya waited for the status report to pop on the screen and rose from her chair, giving the Third Child a soft, comforting smile. "It seems you are coming back from somewhere very far, Shinji..." she commented cheerily, trying to get that miserable look of his face. All the bridge bunnies, after all the battles and sorrow they had witnesses, had endeavored to lessen the pilots' pain and liven them up. A little smile could do wonders, as the saying went. "With the Eva going berserk we were worried you'd have been absorbed once again," she explained.

"Eva?"

"Yes - like last time," Maya continued with noticing his clueless expression, just before he interjected:

"What is Eva?"

"Eva - oh, come on, Shinji - you know, those big ugly things you pilot? Humanoid war machines?" she asked incredulously, thinking that the young teenager was pulling her leg. "Are you okay?" she questioned as she saw his face contort in pain a second later.

"Wait..." murmured the young man, wincing from the effort put in his words. "First - who...who ARE...you?" he coughed up, feeling the dryness of his throat.

That last question wasn't the one Maya expected as testified her flabbergasted face. "What?"

Shinji winced at her loud words, feeling his eardrums strain under the sound waves. It was as if someone had turned the volume of this world up and believed he was in a giant discotheque. "...I said...'who are you'?"

Maya, however, didn't respond, transfixed by his declaration and the consequences it entailed. Her mind was running a hundred miles an hour as she processed the Third Child's sincere-looking interrogation and drew her own conclusions.

To sum everything up, she couldn't believe her ears.

Shinji had lost his memory.

* * *

The Boeing C94 rolled on the runway strip, keeping its sixteen reactors at minimal oil consumption. The Hangzhou airport was in a flurry of activity as the departure day for the massive cargo aircraft had finally come. Security measures had been intensified in the last weeks, an indirect aftereffect of the tragedies that had taken place in Japan. China didn't want to suffer anymore like its neighbor and endeavored to do anything in its power to avoid such an occurrence. Two armored regiments had been positioned around the air base, complete with armored howitzers and artillery rocket launchers, kept operational 24/7 and ready for action at all moments.

The _Leviathan_ finally left the taxiway, still guided by the towing truck and turned to position itself in the middle of the gigantic strip of concrete, ready to leap towards the sky. The vehicle disengaged itself from the front landing gear and quickly left the area to not be caught in the massive air displacement that would follow the takeoff. Old 747s moved so much air around them that when they either landed or took off, no other aircraft could follow it because of the lingering turbulences. The C94 was at least two times as long and as wide as the old airliner and everybody knew the implications. Forty fighter planes - old Sukhoi SU-35s from the Federation of Russia - had already gone airborne, circling overhead and waiting for the flying behemoth to lift off the ground. They would then escort their protégé towards Japan, where they would relinquish its guard to the Japanese Strategic Self-Defense Force. Territorialism was still a strong issue for the two nations, even when both were working to save the world. Neither of the pair would accept foreign forces entering the mainland without their acquiescence. Second Impact had remodeled the world that way.

The C94 came to a stop, as the crew made a final cockpit checkup, running diagnostics through the flight control system and the main computer. When that last process was done, the pilot and copilot deployed the flaps and the leading edge slats, increasing the curve of the wing, and removed the safety systems, readying the machine for flight. As soon as the last ground operations were done, the pilot pushed the gas throttle forward, increasing the input of kerosene inside the turbojets' combustion chambers. In a mighty roar, born of sixteen reactors screaming in unison, the _Leviathan_ rolled forward, rapidly gathering speed. In less than ten seconds, the wheels of the flying behemoth left the ground. The aircraft rose towards the skies with a surprising sense of gracefulness despite its dimensions and weight, its wings gleaming in the increasing sunlight. The escort fighters gathered around the giant plane, like a shield of sorts. When the C94 reached the two thousand-meter altitude, the pilot steered it eastwards, towards a country in constant war against enemies of a new nature.

Deep inside the cargo bay, a sleeping being didn't notice the jarring due to the air turbulences or the sudden acceleration, lost in its deep slumber. Its greenish hue mixed with yellow stroke a harsh contrast with the military gray of its makeshift hangar, the choice of color rather innocuous for a weapon of mass destruction. All around it, a dozen technicians kept an eye on the instruments installed around them, liking the control team with the mechanic - making numerous tests on the onboard systems and verifying their integrity state as well as uploading new maintenance programs in the hard drives scattered inside the giant body.

Which was being prepped for combat, one of biblical dimensions.

Evangelion Unit 05 was bound for Japan.

* * *

_**To be continued...**_

* * *

**A/N:**

Alright - I know I have no excuse for not updating in so long but I must say for my meager defense that my life has taken on hectic tones quite recently. Merge university, newfound part-time job, private matters, modding at a forum, working on GFX and reading scanlations together and you'll have a quite mind-blowing mess on your hands - a bitch the likes of which you wouldn't want to acquaint yourselves with. Moreover, I had this sitting in my HD for quite a long time and I deemed it was high time for me to release it as I have already started work on two other chapters, although it is possible I might rewrite the last one in date. To make up for my thrice-accursed, impossible and unforgivable laziness and consequent tardiness, I'll have chapter 13 up soon for you to read - with, as an unexpectedbonus, quite major developments on Rei's part. Note that I have also switched to a new penname, "The Watcher In The Dark" for certain reasons. I'm still writing although HP-ASiT is all but cancelled (and the rewrite has been left rotting), HP-AVC is on an indefinite hiatus (due to plot issues I need to work with before I get to resume work on the series) and I have started writing another HP series (which should be released on Portkey(dot)orgfirst due to the main pairing). However, this one won't be released until I'm far up in the series, maybe 50-75. I've learnt not make any promises as fate tends to pull practical jokes on me, always making me miss deadlines I systematically swore to keep. No idea when NGE:TBI chapter 14 will be released, though.

Until next time,

Alan

**01°)** The DNA strands are composed of intertwined, inverted helixes, composed of four types of nucleotides, namely adenine, cytosine, guanine and thiamine (A, C, T and G). In fact, the DNA strand can be imagined as a twisted ladder, with the bars being the four nucleotides. Each bar is composed of two of them, which always gather up in specific pairs. As such, adenine only links up with thiamine and cytosine with guanine. If the strand in broken in two lengthwise, and all that can be recovered is just one side with only one nucleotide for each bar (the nucleotide being, of course, attached to the 'rod' composed of bases (a substance capable of reacting with an acid to form salt and water, or, more broadly, of accepting or neutralizing hydrogen ions) blocks), it should be very easy to rebuild the entire structure, as the sequence of nucleotides (of one side) is known to us. If A only links up with T and C with G and vice versa, the process will pose no problem.

If one side has this sequence: A T A A G A C C T G A C C A G T G C,

Then the other side must have this sequence: T A T T C T G G A C T G G T C A C G.

The only thing left is to join the two sides, and the 'ladder', the DNA strand, is completely restored.

In genetics, each one of our physical features is inscribed in our DNA in the form of codons. Codons are groups of three nucleotides (to understand it better, look back at the 'one side of the ladder' system) and each of these codons represent a single gene. The first sequence written above is made of six codons (ATA AGA CCT GAC CAG TGC) and thus shows us three different genes. It should be noted that each gene can be represented by different types of codons. For example, 'CTG' and 'AGC' can very well be two ways to represent a same gene (for example, the gene of a crooked nose or long hair) -- to see what gene it is, one should look up at the genetic code and see what the two codons correspond to. The _phenotype_ is literally our _physical appearance_ and can be drawn up just by looking at the _genes_ in our DNA strand. The _genotype_ is the composition of the _codon_, and as stated earlier, a same gene can be made up of two different codons. Two people can have the same appearance (phenotype) but not have the same gene combination/sequence (genotype). The first can have the codon 'CTG' and the other an 'AGC' but, in the end, both of them have exactly the same looks.

**02°)** Gungnir, in Viking lore, was the spear of Odin, the king of the Scandinavian gods. Much like Zeus and Jupiter did in respectively Greek and Roman religions, Gungnir was associated by Mankind to the lightning phenomenon. On the other part, Mjollnir was Thor's hammer, which he used like a mace to smash through enemy lines. Both weapons were used in great legendary battles against giants and monsters (like the wolves Fenrir and Garm) during wars like the mighty Ragnarok (literally the Twilight of the Gods, an event that can is depicted by Wagner's numerous operas of the _Nibelungen_ cycle). In this universe, Gungnir can be assimilated to the Spear of Longinus, even though that last artifact is an actual one. The Spear of Longinus was the javelin (in Latin, _pilum_) carried by the Roman soldier Marcus Longinus that pierced Jesus Christ's breast while he was crucified. It is said that the blood seeping from the Messiah's wound trickled down the weapon and fell on Longinus' injured eye (which the soldier lost in an earlier battle) - instantly healing the ruined organ. Longinus, awed by the miracle, then converted himself to Christendom and started a pilgrimage of his own to find the truth and spread the word to the folks around him. Certain legends say that he killed a rather cruel lord in the Middle East and was consequently executed by the state for his crime, although he eventually gained his place in Heaven for his redemption. Versions differ throughout the ages and their sources. The spear was eventually recovered by Christians and given to the Vatican where it was stored, until the 1940s when a certain Adolf Hitler thought that possessing the sacred spear (authentic anecdote!) would confer him more power to end the war - a belief nourished by the thought that Nazis were avenging God and the Christ by eliminating those who had crucified the Messiah. After the cessation of hostilities in 1944-45, the weapon was retrieved by the Vatican. Note that only the metallic tip and handle of the spear are the only remnants of the original spear, whose wood decayed a long time ago and eventually disintegrated.

**03°)** Sleipnir isthe name of Odin's steed, a eight-legged war horse - offspring of the God Loki and the Giants' horse Svaldifari - that served as the King of God's means of transportation between Heaven (Asgard - note: not to be mistaken for the Valhalla, which is only a region of heaven dedicated to fallen warriors (brought there by the Valkyries) and nobody else) and the world of men (Midgard).

Not to be mistaken with Gleipnir, which is a magical chain wrought bya Nordic deity.


	13. Chapter 13: Waiting On The Edge Of Chaos

**Neon Genesis Evangelion: The Beast Inside**

**Written by abi2301**

**Chapter 13**

**v.01: 05/08/2005**

**Official disclaimer:** the Neon Genesis Evangelion anime and manga series are the intellectual and material property of Gainax Studios, ADVision, Inc., Shonen Ace magazine, Hideaki Anno and Yoshiyuki Sadamoto. All rights reserved. 'NGE: The Beast Inside' is a purely fictional series based upon the original NGE and written for entertainment purpose only. No money is made out of it.

* * *

**Chapter 13: _Waiting On The Edge Of Chaos And Stillness / The Second Coming_**_

* * *

__TURNING and turning in the widening gyre_  
_The falcon cannot hear the falconer;_  
_Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;_  
_Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,_  
_The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere_  
_The ceremony of innocence is drowned;_  
_The best lack all conviction, while the worst_  
_Are full of passionate intensity._

_Surely some revelation is at hand;_  
_Surely the Second Coming is at hand._  
_The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out_  
_When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi_  
_Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert_  
_A shape with lion body and the head of a man,_  
_A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,_  
_Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it_  
_Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds._  
_The darkness drops again; but now I know_  
_That twenty centuries of stony sleep_  
_Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,_  
_And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,_  
_Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?_

**William B. YEATS, _The Second Coming _(1921)**

_The course of Nature is the art of God._

**Edward YOUNG, _Night Thoughts_ (1742-5) 'Night 9' l. 1267**

_We take no note of Time  
But from its loss._

**Edward YOUNG, _Night Thoughts_ (1742-5) 'Night 1' l. 55**

* * *

"AMNESIA?"

Were there someone to comment on Misato Katsuragi's display of incredulous rage, everyone could have agreed on how constant - or plain frequent - screaming could take its toll on one's vocal chords. What was more to add was that for the purple-haired major, it had become a dreary habit that only took place in times of despair and woe but seldom in days of happiness. In the years that followed Second Impact, there was too little remaining of that feeling to actually consider it as something lying in Mankind's easy grasp.

"RITSUKO - WHAT DO MEAN BY 'AMNESIA'? HE CAN'T HAVE LOST HIS MEMORY INSIDE THAT GOD-FORSAKEN MACHINE, IT'S JUST DOWNRIGHT -" she screamed into the handset, madness clinging at the borders of her frenzied mind. On the other side, a certain Ritsuko Akagi, chairwoman of the E project, sighed wearily, feeling another hour of frustration and long talk pointing at the horizon. "Well, ask Maya, Misato. When she came to check up on him this morning he didn't recognize her. We don't know whether his memory loss was caused by trauma or interference from the temp space on the Eva's core files. The only thing we are certain of is that whatever happened to him his former memories of us were erased. We don't know if it's momentary or temporary, though."

Misato slumped in her seat, grimacing at the news. "Why does it always have to happen to us, Ritsuko...? ...To him?" Her college friend, however, didn't come up with an answer - for she had none to give, despite her knowledge of Ikari's plans. "What are our chances of having him come back to us?"

"MAGI System predicts a 0.53 percent probability of memory recovery, through electric stimulation of the brains' circumvolutions but that is an extremely risky and experimental treatment created before Second Impact - the research was stopped for a while and no real advances were made. Most of the scientific community called it a 'barbaric way to fix brains' so researchers preferred to keep an eye on other means like drugs rather than use electricity."

"So...the bottom line...is that he may never find his memories back...?" Misato asked weakly. The blonde doctor's silence was enough of an answer.

When she vacated two hours later her office, one could actually see some printed stencils on her desk, full of blotted ink, the perfect lettering smeared with the residues of dried tears...

* * *

"More strange occurrences? What do you mean?" asked Kouzou Fuyutsuki at the NERV Global Surveillance officer standing in front of his desk. Contrarily to the Supreme Commander's, the Vice-Commander's office was better lit and radiated a sense of comfort while retaining its outlines of business. Suffice it to say, as light was shed upon Gendo Ikari's demeanor towards his underlings, people preferred to report to Fuyutsuki instead of their respective superiors, lest they suffer from a harsh treatment consisting of tokens of inhumanity and calculating stares.

"There are forty-six MANDRAKE satellites hovering over the atmosphere, all of which are linked to the SERAPHIM network - a collection of intelligence-gathering systems you are no doubt aware of. In the past sixty-five hours the number of energy readings all around the world has peaked from _six _thousand to _two hundred _thousand - with no consistent pattern, just a motley arrangement of little white specks on the globe. Someone in my department even likened the picture to a painting of Pollock - pinpricks randomly spread on a surface. Earth's electromagnetic readings have also peaked to their highest ever since the arrival of the Third Angel in Tokyo-03 last year, even breaking the old record by at least eighty-six percent in terms of magnitude."

Fuyutsuki turned to stare at a nearby window, his features collapsing into a pensive frown. "I see. Is that all?"

"No. One of my subordinates had the idea to take a better look to the EM scan and saw that certain cities and regions on Earth have a higher concentration of those energy readings than deserted areas. In fact, if one were to overlook the oceans, deserts, mountains and whatnot, the given map would be that of the world's demographic map."

The old professor lapsed into silence as the news sunk in, bringing no comfort along. "What about the remaining readings, then?"

"We don't know - they aren't compliant with the geographical survey's maps either - volcanic and tectonic scans do not show similarities with the current one. It still remains a mystery."

"Very well, sergeant, you're dismissed. Good job." One nice thing that went along with the profession of NERV's Vice-Commander was that congratulations and positive or encouraging acknowledgements could be afforded, in order to lessen the Supreme Commander's cold attitude.

"So...it seems that Ikari was indeed right. The wheels are getting into motion...but not from where we thought they would...it seems that you chewed more than you bit, old friend," he smiled cynically. "Your actions are indeed bearing fruits but instead of reaping a single loom your are reaping two. I wonder if you still have the strength to fare with all those developments...or if you'll break before, even though your victory is so close."

Fuyutsuki bent to open a drawer on his desk and took out a ledger bound by three seals. On top of one of them was imprinted the word "HANIEL" in red, ominous letters. Gazing at it with a pensive look, he shook his head. "It has always been the dream of Mankind to tame everything that came under its hands. To control the untamable, as if it were a simple maverick. Nature can be used, but to an extent...after all, there are boundaries not to cross...especially when it comes to controlling beings made by your own hands. Like those mythical golems."

He paused in his muttering before snapping the bindings open and taking the first sheets out. He stood up and headed for the door, still lost in his lugubrious thoughts.

"After all, as in all stories of that genre, the creature always turns on its creator. We can only hope to survive the fray..." he concluded, before closing the door behind him, sealing the office with a snap that ringed with stern finality.

* * *

"Asuka, are you alright?" Maya asked, leaning forward to take a better look on the said girl's face. Shinji had been moved to contiguous hospital room for better treatment, as his wasn't compliant with Asuka's. As his morning check-up had shown no body wounds or other injuries that might have justified his stay near Asuka, the doctors had wheeled him away to a chamber full of electroencephalographs and other brain activity-recording contraptions, which would eventually determine what had triggered his memory loss.

"I'm fine," the young redhead croaked from her bed, failing pitifully to achieve her famous snap.

"That's good to hear, in a way," the short-haired tech smiled, nonplussed by her patient's attitude. After a time, all employees had grown accustomed to her belligerent attitude. But few were those who had come up with an efficient way to counter her sharp words and put up a good fight against her wrath. "Your injuries have healed by twelve point sixty-five percent, which is remarkable, knowing how you took the brunt of the attack. The new healing vats here should be thanked for the progress, I think. Normally," she continued, ignoring the German's glare. "You'll be discharged from the hospital in less than a week. Fifteen other days will be spent at Major Katsuragi's house to complete your recovery - which means no strenuous activities or anything that might provide you with stress."

"Am I supposed to be glad?" Asuka grumbled, weakly turning her head sideways to shut herself from a world she had come to despise in many ways. "Incapacitated like that..."

"At least you're alive," Maya admonished her charge. "As long as you are alive you have always the chance to do better in life afterwards. That's what Prof. Akagi told me."

"Have you been taking philosophy lectures from her?" Asuka retorted resentfully. Akagi and a sermon about success in life were two thing that were not to be coupled in a discussion including her. Maya frowned imperceptibly, feeling the hostility underneath her words. For a moment, neither moved or said more, until Asuka became impatient with the tense silence in the room and turned her head to face the young bridge bunny. "What about that idiot? I suppose he once again came in like Julius Caesar? Veni, vidi, vici? I beheld, I came and I vanquished?"

To her puzzlement, Maya started to fidget and her lips thinned awkwardly. Obviously something was wrong - and that was enough to fill the young Eva pilot with a sense of dread that she was only too familiar with. "Well?" she coughed expectantly. Maya sighed and looked away, her shoulders slumping. "Shinji...indeed vanquished the Angel. There is nothing left of it - not even small samples to be analyzed by the bioengineering division. Eva-01 was recovered without any damages...but I fear the same thing couldn't be said about Shinji."

Asuka blinked. It sure had become a habit for the brown-haired pilot to usually spend the aftermath of a battle within a hospital chamber due to injuries, but NERV employees, especially those directly under Katsuragi's orders, normally didn't beat around the bush, no matter how grave the news they bore were. "He got injured? _Again?_"

Maya looked at Asuka with a wistful smile. "Let's say that something happened during the battle. We're not too sure about what exactly occurred out there but the second after you were...taken down, Eva-01 went berserk."

"AGAIN?" Asuka nearly shouted.

"Yes," Maya sighed. "Shinji was retrieved in a coma - we're maintaining him in limbo till the MAGI finishes its checkups then we'll rouse him from his sleep by injection of chemicals."

The string of expletives in German was then enough to make the young technician blush. "Asuka!" she chided half-sternly.

"What?" Asuka blinked.

"Stop swearing," Maya ordered, her eyebrows fusing together. God knew she wasn't prone to snap or have sudden outbursts but spending so many days filled to the brim with stress and a stomach full of caffeine to keep herself going had that effect on her system. Aspirin didn't help lessen the headaches and employees with such a heavy timetable as hers always avoided saturating their bloodstream with medication and other substances that could affect one's metabolism.

"How did you know I was swearing?" Asuka growled.

"You usually do when you switch to German - besides, I am quite fluent in that language..._fraülein_..." Maya replied. This time, Asuka chose to mutter instead of voicing her feelings loudly. "So he's again there - is he?"

"Yeah," Ibuki sighed. "Again. But this time he has no injuries - just...a commotion." The way she worded her statement instantly betrayed her lies, causing the young redheaded woman to frown at the made-up excuse. Figuring that Asuka wasn't fooled by her words, the technician quickly continued, "but with his previous injuries, we figured there might be some repercussions on his body so we kept him in till we finally are certain that he is alright. He'll be released as soon as possible."

Asuka harrumphed and crossed her arms, choosing to lean on her pillows. "Hmph. Whatever."

The short-haired technician took her dismissal with a sigh, obviously unconvinced by the redhead's stance towards her teammate. However, she knew better than to prod in matters that weren't her business and from which she wouldn't get anything either consistent or making sense. "By the way, what about my Eva Unit 02?"

Asuka's next words never found existence as she saw the bridge bunny's shoulders tense, as if someone had poked her with a spike-covered mace. The uncomfortable silence that followed her didn't help establishing good tidings either. The German frowned and leant forward, her hands balling into fists and gripping the sheets in anticipation. "Ms. Ibuki?"

The raven-haired NERV officer then slowly turned around, her eyes unwilling to meet the young pilot's. Her forced smile already spilled untold secrets as she braced herself for a full-blown outburst and another lesson of German familiar vocabulary. She held a hand in token of calm, but the gesture seemed more like an attempt to shield herself from harm than to placate her interlocutor.

"Well, you see..."

_"Ja?"_ Asuka snarled, reverting to German as her temper rose alarmingly.

It took a dozen minutes to calm down the young girl and convince her that the damages inflicted to her Eva unit weren't as bad as they were put on paper - and the threat of a sedative shot. Thankfully the only other patient in the ward was in total confinement and couldn't have been privy to the torrent of German expletives the redhead let loose and the incident didn't go any farther than that - much to the doctor and nurses' (who were fully aware of their charge's violent tendencies) relief. By then, Maya Ibuki had already left the room, finding well-deserved solace in the quiet embrace of an empty cafeteria and a cup of mineral water. With three tablets of aspirin.

* * *

"Rei will be out of the hospital by this afternoon. Her fever has broken down and her temperature is back to normal. The production of leucocytes and other cells in her bloodstream has decreased by thirty percent."

"So the transformation is complete," Ikari commented with a satisfied smirk. "As expected."

Akagi shook her head, not bothering to add anything to her superior's cold observation. "Had my teachers from university seen this they would have had a heart attack. There is no way so many cells could have mutated in so little an amount of time. Even the normal irradiation doesn't cause effects like this without creating cancers and other illnesses. For all it was worth, Rei should be dead by now. Yet her cells kept on working despite her DNA's changes."

"There are hidden mechanisms in life, doctor," Ikari coldly reminded her. "Besides, this is all the doing of a force greater than ours. Blind but faithful to its own laws."

The blonde didn't answer either, her frown deepening. Ikari could easily see, in the pane of glass in front of him, the reflection of her disgusted scowl, which he took note of but didn't comment either. No matter how reluctant the doctor was, she had no choice but to go forward with her former lover's plans. After all, so much was included in the gamble.

"What about that colleague of yours?" Ikari inquired, not turning to face his subordinate. "Will he be coming?"

"Professor Tahnenfeld? He did answer my letter but he was still skeptical as to what his true role here would be. He has other obligations at the moment so he's still undecided."

"That is unacceptable. You are to take steps in order to get him here," Ikari snapped.

"And what exactly should I do?" the scientist returned heatedly, shaking her head in growing annoyance.

"Use your imagination - promise him money, medical support for an ill relative or an acquaintance of his, a resort in Okinawa - I don't care. If he still doesn't accept our offer then appoint someone from Section Two to make him understand that his presence here is required. Period."

"That'll be hard - he is actually under the auspices of the German government and they won't be keen towards the idea of seeing their premier geneticist working abroad, even for the sake of humanity. They make millions in profit just because of his presence at Berlin. Abducting him would be difficult - because of his fame and responsibilities, he's got at least a half-dozen bodyguards roving around him and if not, then he's working in some governmental facility that is as well protected as the new Fort Knox," Akagi retorted, finding it exponentially harder to deal with a man who only saw golden opportunities for his quest and not the true problems encaging them. _Not to mention that Tahnenfeld is my potential replacement - and if he is to come here, be it from his own volition or because he's been coerced into joining NERV, then my position is all the more in question_, she thought bitterly. The second she would find an alter ego to her exceptional mind in the hands of NERV, she would become expendable. And Gendo Ikari wasn't known for letting important people go away, either alive or not. She was swimming in hot waters and she knew it. Somehow she had to stall her superior's attempts to succeed in his endeavors - at the expense of his contemporaries.

The aforementioned man glared at her behind tinted spectacles then coldly dismissed her with a nod of the head. As she walked out of the office, trying hard to prevent her clenched hands from shaking - and the overdose of caffeine in her bloodstream didn't help her in any way - she was assailed with thoughts of a bleak, dreadful future. _Did I just won a point - or did a lose a few days of the time I've been imparted with in this godforsaken world?_

Only her worst fears could give her an answer - and that in itself was not a good token.

Back inside in the large, dimmed office, Kouzou Fuyutsuki sighed in resignation. "NERV's influence has its limits, Ikari. You of all people should know that. Besides, I doubt SEELE would allow you to secure another key component in your grasp for your own scenario. You were unsubtle enough to make an official offer instead of a secret interview so I wouldn't be surprised if the cat isn't already out of the bag and if SEELE turns out to be aware of your move. I would even wonder if Tahnenfeld, incidentally, isn't already working for the old men," he mused, rubbing his chin pensively.

"It is indeed to be taken into account - but with the green-lighting of Project HANIEL, we need more personnel to spearhead our researches. We still don't know how many Angels will come and that is enough to warrant other...rash measures. We've always been on the defensive save for that Angel sleeping in the magma but we should at least be able to switch to the offensive by introducing other means to counter this threat," Ikari replied sullenly. "The wherewithal to dispose of those foes is not appropriate enough, even it is means it disproves the saying that 'poison must be fought with poison'. We need better than that - and research is paramount in this case."

"At the risk of getting the reputation of an unofficial, private army, which you would be the head of? I didn't know you would willingly forego that aspect of the scenario, Ikari," Fuyutsuki exclaimed, his eyebrows knit together.

"Our time is running out - and Angels are still heading for Tokyo-03. We managed to track down three of them but we lost the others - and that loss of information is critical enough. Humans worry about what they'd look like. Angels don't - the only thing they want is their own Instrumentality. The U.N. be damned - they are, for the moment, just a thorn in our side and the only useful thing they might have is their money. But otherwise I do not give a damn about their humanitarian blabbering."

"Yet the current situation doesn't bode any good, Ikari - we're on the verge of another civil war - the government's hawks are circling overhead looking for every opportunity to get fatter and the population's close to initiating riots hither and yon. Why, even foreign nations are making their moves and it is increasingly certain that we are now caught between the hammer and the anvil - the American and the Chinese navies are already setting sail towards our borders with the claim to either, 'facilitate the entry of reconstruction or humanitarian resources into Japanese territory' or just prevent any 'escalation that might threaten the already fragile Asian peace'. _Pax Romana_ would be a better term, on a side note - the way the U.N. led negotiations wasn't very...oh, well, whatever," Fuyutsuki sighed. "In short, we might have to look out for those two - SEELE is losing control over their hounds, it is easy to see that. Their promises are gaining on bleak colors compared to the cornucopias the current situation is actually offering them on a silver plate. And we'll have to act as Japan's 'other military defense line' to show that-"

"-That Japan cannot be coerced into whatever Japan or America demand of us or allow them to make us lose face when facing the aftermath of the disaster, am I wrong, old friend?" Ikari completed. "They are rather predictable - which is very profitable to us, really."

* * *

Makoto Hyuga, despite all his years of work at NERV, still felt that thrill of excitement and awe each time he stood in front of an Eva. Even when in a prone position, those mighty mechas could still inspire astonishment at their dimensions that would put to shame any other war machine in this world. Technically the Evangelion was a feat in more than one ways, both in technology but also in its history. It was one of the most complex machines ever created and few knew the intricacies of its mechanisms, be they biological or mechanical. In the fourth nuclear fallout bunker at Misawa Air Base, NERV technicians scurried all over the vast expanse, going about their business to prep the behemoth for the last part of its long journey towards the Geofront. In a few minutes, it would be lifted off its flatbed by a gigantic crane and lowered onto a train of tremendous dimensions and shuttled towards the subterranean complex thanks to one of the many tunnels that ran under the country for strategic reasons. During the Second Impact's conflicts, Japan had had the idea of copying the French concept of the Maginot Line, and spent several billion yens digging tunnels under the major cities, building links between them so as to respond effectively against an eventual invasion from either China or the Federation of Russia. Thankfully, that scenario never became reality and the network was handed over to the UN's control, and more specifically to NERV. It now served as a means of transportation for the Eva units as well as makeshift shelters for civilians during the Angel alerts.

"Impressive," the bespectacled technicians breathed at the sight of a silver and blue Evangelion lying on a massive metallic 'bed'. "The Chinese surely did their homework accordingly."

The man next to him, the chief overseer, shrugged. "Ah, the Fourth Branch there has good workers, from what I'm told...the only problem is that the officials in charge are extremely sloppy but I guess someone gave them a good whip crack on the ass to get things done."

Hyuga nodded. "I heard about that - financial discrepancies, wasn't it?"

"Among other things," the man agreed. "I'm not aware of everything that occurred but the word was that not only those officials committed a lot of money laundering crimes but there were also a few spying cases."

"I see," the bridge bunny said, walking over to a ramp that would lead him to a gangway running over the Eva's chest. A few workers were actually working on it, fixing a few areas of the robot's breast plates. Obviously there were some parts of the war golem that needed some catering. "The Eva is high technology so it is no surprise if someone tries to take a look at its plans. It's not like it never happened, anyway..."

"Aye," the bee worker concurred. "This beauty here is even more special than the other models, in its own way. What was that power source that big, purple mecha uses again?" he inquired. Makoto hesitated for a second then answered. "It's...the S2 unit."

"Right, the S2," the man agreed. "This one doesn't run on batteries or that S2 but it has a tokamak - you know, that toroidal thing that uses extremely hot plasmas and a powerful magnetic field to initiate fusion and create deuterium and tritium? Well, that's the one this unit uses. A fusion reactor."

Makoto's eyes widened a little. "Really? But I thought that technology had been abandoned after the Second Impact..." he said, confused. The overseer shook his head, with a proud smile. "Nah. Postponed only. The earlier attempts, granted, were failures but this one incorporates a brand new model that has yielded very good performances. The only problem is that it requires a lot of power to start up. Then the tokamak is self-sustaining since its own turbines create the power needed to maintain the high temperature and magnetic field around, instead of relying on an external power source."

"It uses its own energy for its own activity, you mean," Makoto clarified, obviously impressed. "The overflow of energy, yes; an endless cycle," his interlocutor confirmed. "Normally it shouldn't have any operational time limit apart from those, of course, set for safety measures. We wouldn't want to have the reactor overload or melt down, would we?" he grinned.

"Tchernobyl and Long Island were enough, true," Makoto smiled. "What's that on the shoulders?" he said, pointing to a bulky outgrowth surrounding the shoulders and running all over the back of the robot. "Oh," the man said, "that's the flight unit."

"Flight?"

"Well, I mean, booster pack. You cannot manage sustained flight with this but...you know, flea jumps?" the man explained awkwardly. "It just increases the unit's movement speed. The thrusters here are meant to propel the unit through the air for a short period of time, enough to create a powerful momentum that the pilot can put to profit. However, those bursts don't last long but they serve as force multipliers."

"Incredible. Why didn't we implement that machine in the other Evas sooner?" he mused. The other man shook his head again, his lips curling into a wry smile. "I guess we kept banging our head on a technical wall until very lately."

"Tell me something I wouldn't know," the young tech sighed. "From what I gathered, the techs were at each other's throats trying to determine whether they'd have to use a powder block engine based on the space rockets' thrusters or a simple jet engine like those found on fighter planes. Whatever - they finally opted for the powder block because they managed to yield a higher output with this. Anyway, it seems that everything is okay - I trust you will take care of the paperwork? We will do our work on our side of the line, as usual."

"Same-o, same-o," the overseer grinned, just as an alarm started blaring overhead and loudspeakers announced the removal of the umbilical bridge. Makoto just had the time to frown before the gangway he was currently standing began moving of its own accord, removing itself from the area above the silent behemoth. "Seems like we're on schedule; perfect," the chief commented cheerfully before nimbly making his way towards the staircase that led to the floor beneath, oblivious to the construction's movement. Hyuga, for his part, still had to latch onto the railing, not quite comforted by the thought of moving on a mobile catwalk. Accidents were commonplace at the Geofront and most of them often caused notable injuries among the workers.

He scrambled down the stairs and hopped onto the floor, with the satisfaction of not stumbling when his feet reacquainted themselves with the hard surface of armored concrete. "Anything I need to know, chief?"

The man scratched his goatee before shaking his head in denegation. "Not that I remember - but, oh, yeah, but that's hangar talk, just a wild rumor based on personal opinions, that's all."

Hyuga turned to face his interlocutor, his eyes narrowing imperceptibly at the idea of collecting more intelligence about the Evas. "Off the record, okay. What is it exactly?"

The man leant sideward, his voice dropping to a low whisper. The bespectacled bridge bunny suddenly wished his companion would quit exaggerating his pose and go down with business. "The rumor that goes around here is that this mech here is not exactly a one-of-a-kind unit. There were talks of standardization procedures among the maintenance units pertaining to mass production facilities. The Eva was meant to be indeed modular in order to make repairs go faster and easier but some guys here said that there were more spare parts than there would logically be; even the purple and red ones do not have as much as this one has."

Hyuga blinked. "The bottom line?"

"Look, that's just a rumor, okay?" the man amended, as if having second thoughts. _Covering your tracks, eh? Don't want to leak too much..._Hyuga thought. "But some colleagues of mine say that some of those spare parts are meant for newer units. And that they were easy and fast to produce as well as easy to slap together."

"Mass production units, you mean?" The man shushed him, trying not to look too alarmed.

"Not so loud, damn it! Rumors here fly faster than a bullet! That's what most of us guys have deduced, anyway. Especially since most of those spare parts won't be sent to Tokyo-03 but will be sent towards other facilities."

"What other facilities?"

"Kadena Air Force Base, among others - that's the only name cited around here but that's just our first-try guess. It's a large area therefore it's likely for those parts to go there - no surprise but no confirmation either. That's all I can say."

"Why are you telling me that?" Hyuga whispered, feeling suddenly anxious.

"Just wanted to know if you had an explanation for this - we have worked more than usual during the past month and after a time people here get the feeling that something's afoot. But with all the secrecy around we can't help being puzzled - natural curiosity, you see? Besides, apart from the last attack on the capital, we don't see why the higher-ups would suddenly ask us to work so hard considering it could have given us the wakeup call much sooner."

"Maybe they underestimated the enemy's strength," Hyuga shrugged uncertainly, struggling not to divulge anything sensible or mask the interest burning in his chest. It was a good thing, too, that the overhead lighting made his glasses reflect so that his interlocutor wouldn't see the excited gleam in his eyes. "After all, the past weeks have been very hectic - strange events occurring all over the world - so I guess it was an attempt to brace for impact..." he trailed off, not certain at all.

The nod he received was full of skepticism, which could do nothing but reflect Makoto's own feelings.

As he glanced back at the prone beast bound to its flatbed, he was suddenly filled with a wave of resignation, as if accepting some tragedy that had yet to come.

* * *

Although Tokyo-03 had suffered from massive damage in its peripheral districts during the battle, the Japanese government had nonetheless preferred to tend to its own wounds rather than cater to NERV's needs. From a human point of view the choice was nothing but highly logical - the human losses in New Yokosuka were far greater than that incurred in the sprawling metropolis and there was comparatively little, materially speaking, to repair in the Kanto region. The destruction of the port complex had basically crippled the old Tokyo's province, by stripping it of a way to receive goods and other resources, all vital for its survival. The international airport near the former city was in shambles and the runways were warped beyond recognition, torn by immeasurable forces. The J.S.S.D.F had begun dredging around ground zero to enable heavier ships to sail through the shallower waters of the coastline - which were riddled with submerged cities, therefore threatening maritime traffic - and mobile pontoons were being laid over miles, as makeshift piers. However, it was far from perfect or even adequate as the army gathered around lacked the necessary materiel to unload the cargoes docking in. The roll-on, roll-offs were easy business but the supertankers were an impossible task as they needed specific equipment to siphon their tanks as well as containers to stock the gas and fuel. And there weren't any facilities for that in the surroundings. None at all.

And they critically needed fuel to rebuild the ruined city.

Which put the government in a stalemate, as well as a blooming crisis.

Despite many calls for aid to other countries very little had been done yet to resolve the problems. The government itself, albeit seasoned when it came to dealing with cataclysms and wars, was proving itself to be a giant headless chicken, as officials and other dedicated offices struggled to maintain order and coherence in their work. Conflicts of interests arose in the country's ranks as calls for food and other necessities shot from one side to the other and as medias kicked in, fanning the whole ordeal to flames. Even SEELE had trouble reining in those loose cannons as more and more sources of power appeared here and there, scavenging on the wave of fear and horror washing over the country. Politicians and other personalities were on the hunt for more power.

When blood was in the air, predators arrived soon afterwards.

The only thing left to ponder was which one would win the contest of will and speed. However, NERV, thanks to its international status, managed to get first class priority for the materiel and resources shipments. It came as a rude shock to many a Japanese official to learn that more than one truck, that could have been assigned to the rescue operations in New Yokosuka, were being requisitioned to help transport tons of concrete and electronic equipment to Tokyo-03. They nevertheless remained silent as a hidden hand kept them in check, unwilling to cause additional turmoil. SEELE was in a quandary - either it borrowed some time for NERV's sake and allow it to defeat the new Angels or it would allow the media and the Japanese government to prey on the untold scandal and weaken the U.N. organization. There were pros and cons to the equation and most outweighed the other, bringing another stalemate to the fore.

The situation remained as such for a few days - until higher-ups in Tokyo-02 got wind of what was happening and decided to take matters in their own hands. Their first move made itself known a few hours later.

* * *

Misato was not a woman that had every reason to smile in the world.

Whoever, that distinction could have applied to thousands of female individuals all around the globe, all born after the Second Impact. With the cataclysms came woes and other plagues that, one by one, undermined Mankind's reasons to look forward to living in the future. Famine, wars, complete chaos...such were the many avatars of the gangrene that was Second Impact - the one event that had changed world's face as radically as that hypothetical asteroid impact that had eradicated the dinosaurs existence a hundred million years ago. Yet as some poets could have confirmed, it was often agreed that a slow, bitter and painful death was _not_ preferable to a quick, painless one - even if it meant living a little longer to correct a few wrongs. Dying of apathy was another form of oblivion that was just as detestable.

As such, Misato didn't know which form of torment was better - whether to leave this world writhing in the throes of agony or to depart, numb and without feeling anything. Sometimes she wished for both - while being able, at the same time, to howl her misery and desperation to whoever would remain to hear it. Life, for her, had summarized itself to a succession of losses and debatable gains - a never-ending waltz of disappointments and ephemeral moments of joy that made a rather bleak mixture. What was sad to say, she often told herself, was that bad memories were easier to remember than good ones. Happiness only lasted so long.

Pain remained forever as a scar embedded in the soul's very fabric.

Maybe burrowing deep beneath tons and tons of miscellaneous memories but it remained there, lurking like some sort of eel ready to spring out of its hidey-hole when a prey came right in front of it.

Pain had become, for many a living being who had lived through Second Impact and survived to tell the tale to other wry souls, an enemy but also a companion - a confidante for many who like allegories and looked at reality with other, dried eyes. For some it looked more like a mantle of unhappiness gathering around their souls to suck the hope dry, to make them lose their expectations of a brighter future. As well as their reasons to keep on living.

It isn't thus surprising if, after the Second Impact, a great number of sects and other movements exploiting growing animosities and ever-spreading chaos arose from the ashes of a ruined society, preying upon the weakened mind and beliefs of beleaguered people. Not only did they want reasons to explain why they were suffering so much - as stupid and esoteric as they can be - but they also longed for a reason to go on. A prop to lean on - or a springboard to leap onto better tomorrows, depending on one's view. Everyone needed a reason to go on and endure this martyrdom a little bit more. For Misato, or at least till two young children came into her abode, that reason was unique, simple and sharply outlined.

Revenge.

Revenge for her father.

Revenge for her surviving alone.

Revenge for the excruciatingly painful days that followed.

Revenge for reality.

Just...revenge.

Then it became a sort of responsibility - in the form of two souls entrusted to her care, two lives that depended on her judgment and quick assessment of rapidly deteriorating situations. It often came down as a game to see how long everyone would be able to evade death in all its horrid glory, battle after battle, but in her mind's eye, Misato thought of it like that great journey those Chinese communists made back in the twentieth century, when they fought for Mao Zedong. A great travel full of bumps and other holes, where one would trip countless times and often get tired, till he or she finally came to see the end of the road and the accomplishment of days, if not years of hard work and sacrifices. It was the Great Path of Life. The Great Journey. Looking back at her empty apartment and 'enjoying' a few hours of rest forced on her by a rather adamant Ritsuko Akagi, major Misato Katsuragi couldn't help but wonder whether they, she and her surrogate children, had fallen in a deep, murky ditch instead of a small depression. Wandering in a daze in the silent, soulless corridor of her home, she felt herself once again assailed by the familiar pangs that tore at her heart and soul, the suffering peaking each time her gaze would fall on a familiar item - a pocket mirror from Asuka, Shinji's cello, a battery charger for a MP3 player and so on, and so on. Life was also a pandemonium of reminders - and not all of them were harbingers of happiness or joyous reminiscences. But oft heralds of countless, relentless nightmares.

She stopped in front of Shinji's room, her darkened eyes boring into the sheet of paper plastered on the panel of traditional yet synthetic wood, taking in every detail, chiseling them in her mind as if she didn't want to forget them - such things didn't last long and if one, in these troubled times, wasn't to commit them to memory as soon as possible, they might get whisked away by the hiccoughs of Fate. She closed her eyes and rested her forehead on the rugged surface, leaning in to prevent herself from falling. Her knees were already buckling under the proverbial burdens shoved on her shoulders, so much like restraints binding her to the ground and forbidding her to stand back upright. But she wanted to - she owed them that.

Until recently, a few months, to tell the truth, she had forgotten about what life was all about. There wasn't only death but also life. Birth. No...rebirth. Ashes might return to the ground, to the ashes, but they also allowed new saplings to burst from the innards of Earth and into the world. Those two children of hers, not by her blood but well by wordless adoption, had taught what it was to live. Although they were emotional wrecks themselves, they were still an embodiment of hope to those whose souls had been forsaken in the determination to beget death for a semblance of justice towards those who had already passed away and onto oblivion. To avenge the horrifying number of people killed in Second Impact.

All because of a damned father of hers and a few other men.

Because they found their god elsewhere and forget what living consisted of - even if it was to last only a little longer and then whither away like a flower that had seen too many seasons and was wont to return to its mother.

"Wasn't it great?" she muttered. "Those apartments are the result of years of hard labor, erecting buildings back above water level and filling them with electronics and other things to sustain life within their midst - yet they are so empty; they harbor no life, nothing. They are just empty husks. Soulless shells."

Wasn't it ironic that, once again, it was only when one lost something that one was reminded of how precious it was? And what an incredible source of happiness it remained when it was still there? Now that it was gone the pain came back full force, like a giant tsunami ripping everything away, leaving only destruction in its wake after it receded.

Her hands balled into fists and one of them fell to her waistband, where she had tucked another one of those new design floppy disks - the new batch of data containers Makoto had forwarded her as discretely as possible. Knowing how important her influence towards the Children was, it made itself clear that she was also the subject of intense observation and the target of a rather tight surveillance system that left nothing aside. And now that the Commander was surely to consider her 'on the brink of a nervous breakdown' - no thanks to a certain blonde who would doubtlessly point that to her superior had he not already noticed the change - the leash would tighten further. Which meant that it would be harder for the two of them to sniff around for suspect data and go through it, collecting whatever would be to her satisfaction.

"How can that be possible - fucking amnesia..." she murmured, feeling the tears coming back. Another form of torture - a new, great distillation of fate: the world you once knew (or at least an important aspect of it) would come back unscathed from whatever test it had encountered but it would no longer be the same to your eyes. Shinji would still be alive but he would have forgotten everything.

"I should be happy," she choked. "He'd forget every bloody thing he had to live through - every mission - every wound - everything...and start anew...but it's not right. It's _not right._"

She wanted to scream it.

It wasn't right.

Like so many things in this world.

_God left his heaven and nothing is right in the world._

_But then again, tell me something I don't know_, she bitterly retorted to herself.

Twirling the item in her hands she could remember only too well its contents. Massive head trauma coupled with rather important feedback from the Eva's artificial conscious, causing a major conflict in the brains' circumvolutions and disrupting many connections. At first, Misato had leapt hopefully at the language used in the report, believing that Shinji's memories were just cut off but still there in his mind, but as the list of conjectures stretched on and on - over twenty-six pages, to be precise - the flame in her heart dwindled. Only the news that Asuka had gotten better, was fully alive and kicking had roused her from the pit of despair she had cast herself in. The brains were probably one of the most puzzling organs of the body; scientists of the Middle Ages considered the heart as the core of the body yet it wasn't common knowledge, by then, that that red piece of flesh was nothing but an advanced pump relying on coordinated contractions of four cavities thanks to electrical impulses. It was simple but people considered it as the throne of the soul. Destroy the heart and you'd destroy the owner.

Nowadays that reasoning would be proven wrong with the existence of artificial hearts and other mechanical pumps that allowed patients to live a little longer while the aforementioned organ would either be malfunctioning or plain right _dead._ However, if you destroyed the brains, you'd destroy the owner itself. Forever. Nobody could live with his or her gray matter shredded to ribbons. The worst was that brains weren't something one could trifle with as easily as some normal part of the human anatomy could tweak to his own purposes. It was too complicated, too risky, too mysterious. There were too many unknowns - the greatest enemies of Mankind. Absence of knowledge. Which equaled absence of power. Therefore, hopelessness.

With a heartrending sigh, she relinquished her position and came back to the living room, her footsteps echoing dully in the empty apartment. Silence was one of the things she had come to hate - an evil reminder of her time spent in confinement during her catatonic period. It symbolized solitude and pain, two curses that had befallen the purple-haired major a long time ago.

The atmosphere of gloom was suddenly - and almost welcomingly - interrupted by the shrill cry of a phone call.

* * *

"They did _what?_" Gendo Ikari spat into the receiver, glancing at his subordinate to get his full attention.

The man on the other side of the man obviously didn't relish his situation - dealing with a displeased Supreme Commander was no easy task to tend to. "We didn't receive any word from the six convoys we requested earlier today - the squads in charge are still at Chiba at the airport with half of their original payloads. The trucks are gone."

"The trucks are _gone?_" Ikari repeated, his eyes narrowing. "What do you mean by _gone?_" His mind's gears were already turning and a few guesses were flying in his head - most of which pointed at the Japanese government. Despite his confidence in having the U.N.'s ear and attention, Gendo Ikari also knew that Tokyo-02 wouldn't sit idle when its own skin was at stake. They had lost a huge source of revenue and cripple a part of its economy by losing New Yokosuka and NERV was basically restraining them in their efforts to rebuilt the destroyed port.

"The J.S.S.D.F. arrived this morning, two hours before our squads and forced the drivers to board their trucks and leave the compound - but the military seems to have made an inventory of what was already loaded on the pallet racks and the flatbeds before disposing of what they didn't need - they mostly took concrete and other heavy machinery. Bulldozers and such. They also took fuel as well as other crates full of raw materials. All for construction. The only parts left are electronics, specific spare parts and dismantled weaponry. I'm rather surprised they didn't take _those_, knowing they are like ravenous wolves when the word 'high-tech weaponry' reaches their ears, but I guess this was more of a raid targeting our raw materials than anything else. The guy who was in charge proclaimed that the state was requisitioning goods for the sake of the country - and his official paperwork was in the form of a dozen rifles aimed at our workers. We couldn't do anything to prevent the theft," he concluded lamely, wishing for the impending storm to not strike him.

His hand tightened on the piece of plastic, threatening to crush the surface beneath livid fingers. Such a setback was unacceptable.

"So you mean that the J.S.S.D.F. _stole_ our resources?"

A gulp confirmed his conclusion.

"Yes, sir."

Gendo Ikari terminated the connection and whipped his head towards Fuyutsuki. The older man sighed in resignation, already seeing the anger boiling in his former student's eyes. The next thoughts weren't as cheerful, as he considered Ikari's future actions. The word _retaliation_ immediately popped to existence, with no small amount of comfort within. Ikari was a dangerous man, with lethal weapons under his hands.

"The S2 prototypes were in that convoy, weren't they?" Fuyutsuki calmly asked. Ikari's glare provided enough of an answer.

"If the J.S.S.D.F. were to lay their hands on it it'd be a disaster - they scrapped the Jet Alone project a while ago but they still wish to have something powerful enough to parry an eventual attack from an Eva unit. If they are to delve deeper in the secrets the S2 contain they will soon discover the principles behind the Absolute Terror Field. And those two assets are basically our only safeguards against the U.N. Losing direct control over them would have unforeseeable consequences - and SEELE won't stand for it as the Japanese government will look forward to cutting the leash the old men have tightened around its neck. It's bad enough that they have limited access to N2 weaponry - should they use the A.T. Field as a shield against foreign attacks the scales of power would be tipped in a direction that wouldn't benefit any of us," Gendo ground out.

"I guess more trouble is on the way, then."

"What an understatement, old man."

"At any rate, taking the convoy back is our top priority but they drove us this far to the wall - if we attack them we'll endanger ourselves and risk an all-out war with Japan, no matter how direly they need us to fend off Angels. If we do not intervene, they gain a new trump card. Hmmm, quite a dilemma."

"Letting them go with the Super Solenoid is out of question - crossing out the latter option."

"I see - but you better have something up your sleeve to deal with the political aftermath. If we deny Japan the means to lick their wounds and rise anew, NERV will suffer greatly from the media backlash."

"I know," Gendo said with a slight smirk, "and I believe our own trump card is coming our way - slowly but surely. Most convenient."

Fuyutsuki's eyes narrowed, before his gaze fell on an electronic plot table behind the Supreme Commander's desk. He could clearly see a red spot slowly making its way towards Japan's coast. The words "Code Blue" blinked near the radar contact. The former professor's shoulders slumped in resignation.

"Is Rei operational?" Gendo snapped, tearing the older man from his darkened thoughts.

_That_, however, was not a question Fuyutsuki had foreseen.

"Rei?" he repeated, blinking. "I fail to see how-" he continued, before Ikari interrupted him. "It is of no consequence, professor. Is she of use to us right now?"

"As in?" Fuyutsuki requested, fearing the worst.

"Is she able to synch with an Eva?" Ikari ground out. Fuyutsuki nearly choked on that. "So soon? Ikari - she isn't even out of the hospital; how do you expect her to hop in an Eva and put it into motion in her current state? Unit 01 won't accept any other master than your son - Unit 02 is out of commission for a couple of weeks and Unit 05 hasn't been fine-tuned with the latest battle data. What-"

"Irrelevant," Ikari dismissed his protests. "Unit 05 is basically Unit 00 but with more mechanical components - we just have to upload Unit 00's core into the Eva's BIOSYS hard drive and force the connection between Rei and her new assignment. We already did it a while ago - not soon enough to subdue Unit 01 - but it can be done."

"The gamma drugs, you mean?" Fuyutsuki hissed. "I thought the project was deemed a failure - you even stated it was a liability instead of an advantage to exploit successfully. What are you thinking? And what do you intend to do with Rei, to return to our previous topic?"

"I just intend to settle the score between us and the Japanese government, old man. What was taken can be taken back - and in order to make them understand that, well, there is no better asset in our hands than a brand new Eva."

* * *

"Ma'am?" Ibuki stuttered, blinking her eyes in surprise. "You seriously want to do _that?_"

The young, short-haired technician was greeted with a cold, disapproving look, forcing her jaw to snap shut. Although both were on familiar terms, there were lines that were not to be crossed - and an overworking, sleep-deprived scientist like Ritsuko Akagi had her limits when it came to patience. If there was one thing Maya kept in mind, it was not to annoy her when she was tense or on the verge of losing her cool. "Yes," Dr. Akagi snapped warningly. "It is the only way to unlock the memories inside Shinji. In this particular case one must consider the human mind as a gigantic mansion full of rooms, either with open or closed doors. Some areas are sealed and others aren't - and what is contained in those separate locations make all the difference in the situation."

"So that proverbial room that is Shinji's memories has been sealed, right?" Maya timidly offered, trying to defuse the growing tension between the two. Her plan seemingly worked as Akagi's shoulders slumped a notch and the blonde slinked in her chair. "Basically - although the process behind the sealing of those memories is quite problematic. With an AT Field it is possible to do a lot of things - like cause two different beings to...enter in resonance or modify their layout."

Maya frowned. "I believe I lost you, ma'am."

The doctor sighed and ran a hand through her dyed hair, feeling suddenly the toll of overwork glide over her being. It was greasy and coarse and no longer retained its former silkiness. "What I mean is that you can consider the soul of a person - its essence, also defined by the presence of an AT Field, as a constant emission of waves, like a transmitter. However, if another AT Field shows up in the surroundings and begins to emit at the same frequency, do you know what happens, metaphorically speaking?"

"The waves...are superimposed and it gives a bigger wave...interference," Maya answered, recalling her basic physics theory. "Right," Akagi concurred. "Then consider those modulated waves as one's feelings or just his or her _mind._"

"You mean..." the bridge bunny breathed.

"One can easily manipulate a soul by using an AT Field - it even becomes easier when the subject's mind is half-merged or put in correlation with the other resonant being. After all, when in the Entry-Plug, the two minds nearly become one, although one of the two artificially gains the upper hand and becomes the decisional nexus. But...if the other mind breaks free, even for a minute, then there might be an AT Field conflict - a backfire through the nerve connection between the two. The master becomes the slave and the actor becomes static...passive."

"Do you think that's what happened to the Third Child?" Maya asked, recalling Shinji's perplex look when seeing her near his hospital bed.

"It is one of many theories - there's also the probability of mere trauma, concussion, stress, latent schizophrenia and split personalities but one thing remains certain: the Eva had a part in this," she stated, reaching around to retrieve her all-familiar coffee mug. Not enough sleep or not, she needed the caffeine.

"So we have to find a way to close the appropriate doors of Shinji's mind and open the needed ones, is that what he have to do?" Maya asked, a small smile on her lips, as if the simple explanation satisfied her more than all the complex axioms and other scientific dogmas that were shouted in the Pribnow Box or Dogma Terminal each time an Eva test or mission was initiated. Somehow, if made everything simpler, which was quite a feat judging her field of work.

"Yes," Akagi chuckled, although nary mirthlessly. "But I wish it was that simple. Major Katsuragi is already on the way for the test - I assume she'll want to have a look at our plans before we get the green light from the Commander himself."

"I see," her pupil nodded. "She was quite upset by what happened. I only had her on the phone today but I could tell she was devastated by what had happened. I almost feel guilty for telling her our primary estimations for his chances of recovery."

"I know - and that's why I...specifically omitted a few things in the report I handed you," Akagi said emotionlessly, sipping her coffee - trying almost hopefully to catch the bite of the burning liquid on her tongue, to keep away the spreading numbness. Maya blinked at that and spun around, her eyes wide. "What?"

The young tech stared at her mentor then whispered, "what...what didn't you mention - you - you knew I'd tell her the news, is that it? So you left something out so the Major wouldn't find out -" she stammered, shaking her head. Akagi frowned at the young man's troubled behavior and set down her mug. "I know you have sort of a soft spot for the Third Child, Maya. We all have, knowing how hard his life was - and how he deserves a little bit of happiness while it lasts," she explained, closing her eyes as she felt the caffeine filling her bloodstream. It was however losing a battle against impending exhaustion. "But there are some things, that, despite being the rightful possession of someone else, won't be source of any betterment - but rather one of worsening. Had I disclosed this to the Major, she would have been more panicked than anything else and the last thing we need right now is to have a nearly psycho, suicidal director of operations. She is on the verge of breaking down and adding more burdens to her dread won't do her any good. Even if it doesn't seem so, I did her a service. Ignorance is bliss in this case."

Ibuki's back rested against a nearby wall as the young woman deflated, defeating by her mentor's arguments. Although they were too cynical, there was still the voice of truth backing them up, horrifyingly rational and realistic. "And...may I know what you let out - what you kept out of her knowledge?"

Akagi's eyes snapped towards her subordinate, staring her down as if evaluating her trustworthiness for the first time. Soon enough, Ibuki felt a chill run down her back as golden, cold irises raked over her. Finally, Dr. Akagi broke her gaze and crossed her arms, almost in resignation. "As I said, two AT Fields entering in resonance can yield a lot of consequences - but it is something extremely hard to achieve in the first place. Yet it happened. A few days ago. The black boxes turned out devoid of any information but the synch readings sent out by the Entry-Plug showed a lot of overlapping patterns, as if there were two things working in unison - but not necessarily in conjunction. Afterwards I checked the neural head clips and their polarization was quite particular - and from there I could hazard a few guesses as to what happened. I narrowed them down to a few possibilities, most of them including a very important feedback coming from the Eva, more or less equal to the data sent from the clips' owner itself. That's what made me suspect a hypothesis like that, although I never knew that one chance in a million would take place in our world."

She coughed in her fist then turned to lock eyes with her friend and pupil. "In fact, it is probably what the Commander would look after the most - especially when it comes to Eva. Perfect synchronicity - two minds, two essences merged - no, not _merged_. _In unison._ They were distinct yet experienced the same things and did the same things. Duality and unity in a single package. A possibility like this is actually unthinkable - as we are each defined by our differences. If two things look the same and are made of the same matter, down to its smallest component, what makes you say that they aren't actually the same thing? It's nearly impossible - souls are _all_ different - and that's where the problem is. When that interference arises in the connection, the AT Fields will basically battle with each other. The frequencies will be the same but the wave pattern will be different - and sooner or later, one of the two is wont to affect the other and will even _shape_ the peer's waves...therefore, change its _soul._"

"No..."

"Yes...what I mean is that the Eva might have remodeled Shinji's psyche...his whole persona. And I didn't want to tell Katsuragi that her beloved Third Child might harbor a different personality. That she would lose him despite his survival - because he'd be different from what he once was. It is horrifying, you know, to have something you cherish by your side - but it is no longer the same as before. It's as if, after all, you had in fact lost it."

"Then Shinji..."

"The test will not only aim towards retrieving Shinji's memories, Maya - it will also serve to make sure Shinji reverts to his former self...to repair a possibly damaged soul."

* * *

The air above Japan was flooded with energy waves of many sorts. Apart from the Mount Fuji observation complex there were three other research stations scattered along the coastline, one of which belonged to a private company and the two others to either the government or the local U.N. geographical survey team. In total, more than two hundred large diameter antennas were pounding electromagnetic pulses in the airwaves, while a countless number of smaller emitters were doing either menial tasks or were catering to other, more crucial ones - like assisting the salvaging efforts near New Yokosuka. As all land lines were saturated with calls from supervisors, simple technicians, overseers or officials trying to get their job done, Japan had requisitioned more than one emitter and had often requested nearby civilian radio stations to lend them their systems to increase the pace of the reconstruction project that had barely been laid in Tokyo-02. Japan was facing the prospect of a new economical crisis with the loss of a major facility and the other ports were struggling to coordinate the arrival of countless ships and other merchandises to move around, embark or disembark. Even the police and army were flooded with requests coming from all sides, begging them for constant support. It didn't help that civilians were clogging around the devastated area to either gaze mindlessly at the scene or ask for help as food wasn't coming to their shops anymore.

While radio activity was at its highest, civilian and military radars were working on a smaller scale to avoid unnecessary interference. A few years ago a group of environmentalists - tree-huggers, as NERV loved to dub them - had filed many a complaint towards the electromagnetic activity Japan was maintaining around its citizens. Those lobbyists, in the aftermath of the great cataclysm that was Second Impact, were then basking in the surge of power that major event had given them. Respect Nature, was their motto - and in those hours of mayhem and havoc, many were those that had listened to it. New Yokosuka was only a new spark to set them afire. As soon as the news of the disaster had reached Tokyo-02, their analysts had began working on their statistics, drawing estimations of the impact of the local environment - which species would disappear, how many trees would die, the amount of polluting substances poured in the local streams, and so on. Numbers, especially if they were to be published or broadcast through the national television or radio channels, had a lot of influence on the population.

And to avoid having trouble with potential whistle-blowers, the government had decided to reduce the amount of airwaves hammered in the atmosphere. Only communication networks for ships and aircrafts would be maintained at their full potential, while long range detection would be the responsibility of small J.S.S.D.F. frigates sailing far away from the coast line as radar pickets, while their bigger sisterships would clutter around New Yokosuka to help the workers load the tons of rubble towards construction areas - where it would be ground to fine pebbles and maybe used as material for concrete or synthetic spin-offs.

It was then no surprise if no one saw it coming.

Three hundred miles south of Japan, a huge mass of clouds - no, steam - was making its way towards the mainland with implacable finality. Some might have seen it as another typhoon coming to rake the grounds, as usual but the idea would have been scoffed at by the Japanese meteorologists. The winds were now moving south. The mantle of billowing clouds was moving _north._

It was a small J.S.S.D.F. antisubmarine warfare frigate that saw it coming first. Its battered SH-60 helicopter (some of which still flew despite their great age) had flown around in circles, dipping its towed active sonar array to locate any foreign submarines that might have wanted to infiltrate the territorial waters by exploiting the mayhem New Yokosuka had caused. And it wouldn't have been the first time such a thing would happen - North Koreans and some Chinese special forces personnel had already attempted that stunt, with more or less success. The lesson, however, remained engraved in the J.S.S.D.F.'s mind. The pilot had maintained his bird in position for two hours as the sonar officer worked on the acoustic data and had found nothing else to do but gaze at his surroundings. As time flew by he found himself nervously glancing at his wristwatch, counting down the number of minutes he'd have to stay out there in midair.

For, before him, was a wall of swirling clouds. The phenomenon itself was impressive - it looked as if a gigantic hand was constantly kneading it as its shape changed violently. At moments, pillars of white would erupt and spread like blossoming Sakura branches before falling down in long wispy threads. In ten years of active service the captain behind the commands had never seen anything like that.

"Look at that," he told the copilot, nudging worriedly at the scene in front of them. His colleague looked up from the heads-up display he was manipulating and narrowed his eyes.

"What the hell is that?" he wondered, just as the clouds seemed to flash white for a moment before darkening. The captain wondered if it wasn't thunder he was witnessing just now.

"Search me, but tell you what: I've never seen anything like this," he breathed. The crew chief behind the pair abandoned his station and joined his companions in the cramped cockpit, leaving the sonar officer to his computer. He froze as his eyes fell on the bulwark of crumbling clouds making its way towards the motherland. "What the fuck? Doesn't look like a typhoon to me..." he blurted.

"Nah," the pilot said, just as his helicopter shivered for a second. His hands grasped the joystick and the yoke for a scant second and the crew's collective blood chilled at the same time. Even the sonar officer looked up from his digital screen to look at his teammates. "Hey, what was that?"

The pilot's eyes ran over the command panel, searching for anything that might tell him what was wrong. The gauges and other indicators seemed alright and he was soon joined by the copilot in his quest for answers. "Seemed like a gust of wind to me," he answered, sounding none too sure about his assessment. The copilot threw him a blank look. "Didn't the weather report say that we'd have clear skies today?"

"Well, he was wrong," the captain retorted, jabbing his finger at the phenomenon in front of them. The crew chief frowned and staggered when the aircraft shuddered once again. "What the hell?"

"Look!" the copilot exclaimed, pointing at the anemometer. The winds seemed to pick up - causing gusts that would caress the _Seahawk_'s frame with increasing intensity, making it into a rather outsized resonance box. The pilot's eyes narrowed at the indicator, which kept on rising with every passing second. "_That_ fast? You must be fucking kidding me," he whispered. "This is ridiculous, look at that..."

"Well," his second in command said, "joke or not, we're going to be in a hot zone in a few minutes if this keeps it up." His words were emphasized with a faraway roll of thunder that reverberated through the cockpit, carrying along a gush of dread. The crew was jarred of its thoughts by a beeping coming from one of the H.U.Ds, one of the small, multifunction, flat screens embedded in the command panel. The pilot punched a few buttons and activated an interface window, looking for the source of the disturbance. One of the twelve proffered entries was blinking alarmingly.

'F.L.I.R.'

The Forward Looking Infra-Red system was a small camera hanging under the helicopter's nose, equipped with multiple prisms and filters that dissected the luminous spectrum according to a selection of chosen frequencies. The onboard computer automatically collected any form of radiation invisible to the naked eye and of a frequency situated between 0.7 and 1,000 micrometers. The digital data was processed and then sent to the H.U.Ds, to the crew's attention. The pilot blinked at the word, knowing that it had an in-built alarm system that was triggered when radical changes were observed in the surroundings or when something the computer could consider as 'abnormal' was detected. It included surface-to-air missiles, military vehicles and other phenomena like a thunderstorm taking place right in their neighborhood, but there was nothing on the radar scope and they were too far away from the incoming storm. Perplexed, the pilot pressed the 'select' button next to the 'F.L.I.R.' entry and waited for the visual feed to upload.

And he blinked.

Not once, but twice. Then thrice.

Squinting like his two companions, he gazed at the picture, one of a billowing field of red and orange, with, underneath, a world of whitening blue. His gaze snapped to the lower left corner, locking onto the 'THERMAL' word - it was a thermal representation of the scene in front of the helicopter's nose, translated according to the levels of heat recorded by the long range camera in the F.L.I.R. complex. Red meant hot, white meant incandescent, blue stood for cool and black for ice cold.

The storm seemed if set on fire.

It wasn't clouds he was looking at - but _steam._ Scalding _steam._

"Steam?" he sputtered, his face paling considerably - it explained why the winds were so high - the amount of heat in front of him causing the hot air to move outwards, to fill in areas with low pressure, creating air currents by the way. They were surrounded by water, which meant a field of cold - an atmospherical paradise for heat, which needed to spend its energy on moving currently motionless molecules. The men looked at each other then nodded as the pilot grasped the controls tightly and brought his aircraft to turn one hundred eighty degrees left, back to their ship. "Damn, Akira, you need to keep track of this," he urged the copilot, who was already busy setting the onboard computer to display the return path. "I don't want to suffer adverse weather right now," he muttered, before a massive groan caused the helicopter to shake violently. "WHAT THE HELL?" the sonar officer shrieked.

"Anemometer is climbing. Damn it, it's fast!" the copilot appraised. The pilot swore and pushed the controls down, forcing his helicopter to increase its speed. Blinking lights began to fill the cockpit and the beeping sound of the emergency signal made itself known to the occupants of the _Seahawk_. "Fuck it, we've got stress on the tail - never ever seen that in my life," the commander said, shaking his head disbelievingly, just as the aircraft dropped a dozen feet in altitude. "Bloody - turbulences ahead."

Then the _Seahawk_ began banking hard then to roll, like a puppet tossed around by a lively child. The alarms began blaring harder in the cargo bay, warning the crew to fasten their safety seatbelts. The men in the back had barely had enough time to grab their straps when the helicopter lurched violently, causing the crew chief to fall on the ground then slide towards the back of the fuselage as the pitch increased. Then the shockwave arrived, hitting the aircraft full on, like a sledgehammer slamming on an anvil. The Seahawk was thrown off-course and lost control of its flight, as tremendous pressures began working on the outer hull, deforming parts of it with implacable tenacity.

The tail rotor whined then groaned as the wind wrenched it out of its socket, tearing the mechanisms apart with savage glee. Sparks and lube oil erupted from the damaged tail. The helicopter instantly found itself without any force to counter the main rotor's thrust and the consequences of such a fatal loss made themselves known just as immediately. Just as the pilot yelled in surprise, the fuselage shook violently then began spinning around in the opposite direction of the main blades'. The crew chief, that had left his flight seat to seal the other compartments inside the aircraft's cargo bay, was caught unawares and lost his footing. And soon enough he was thrown off his feet by the sudden rotation and into sonar officer's station. Bones cracked and the man's body came limp - the technician instinctively grabbed what he didn't knew was an already deceased colleague and held on for his dear life, as the helicopter lost all control of its flight.

Since the _Seahawk_'s nose had been pointing downwards as they were fleeing the incoming storm, the main rotor acted like a propeller in that direction - or more exactly, like a sling. And the fuselage was the proverbial stone cast away by the centrifugal force. G-forces piled on top of each other as the missile hurled through the air and towards the waves. And it didn't stop there - the winds were increasing due to the shift in temperature and the consequent appearance of air currents and were beginning to claw at the two engines. Thirty seconds later, the main blades started to deform and developed stress fractures. Two of them broke under the pressure, the tremendous vibrations reverberating through the central axis and causing the engines to break their own mechanisms in fountains of sparks and flames. Oil and shredded metal poured out in deadly showers, some of it blasting downwards towards the cargo bay, tearing through the ceiling as if it were made of mere butter, killing the sonar officer and wounding the pilot.

The copilot felt fear seizing his body and he knew that death was only a matter of seconds. The only thing he could do was gaze helplessly as his helicopter spun in midair towards the waves at more than a hundred kilometers per hour. The _Seahawk_ hit the surface and was immediately reduced to pieces in a giant ball of fire and steam, its innards pulverized at the same second and scattered in the heavens. The single Mark 50 torpedo on its flank detonated upon contact and fueled the helicopter's explosion, adding violence to chaos. The debris remained airborne for a few seconds then finally fell towards the bottom of the sea, along with the unrecognizable remains of the once sturdy aircraft. Among the stream of bubbles escaping from the six sinking airframe parts, a small, baseball bat-shape contraption - which had miraculously avoided destruction thanks to its polyester casing - broke free from its restraints and, aided by its positive buoyancy, surged upwards, till its head broke free and six, thin antennas immediately extended from the slender body, rising over the churning waves.

Six seconds later, an antisubmarine frigate known as the _Kanagawa_ picked up the greatly distorted but unmistakable tones of a distress signal. After a few radio-goniometry calculations, an optronic camera on top of the main mast swiveled in the last known azimuth of the aircraft the emitter belonged to and searched the horizon. Then the officer manning the video feed monitor saw the storm. Five minutes later, a message was en route to the J.S.S.D.F. headquarters.

A quarter of an hour later, NERV was sent an alert message, appraising them of the arrival of a new Angel.

* * *

**_To be continued..._**

* * *

**A/N:**

Here goes chapter 13, as I promised...

See you later.

Alan

**01°)** Maginot Line: the _Ligne Maginot_ was an underground network of railways that sprawled through the Northwestern regions of France, with the task of providing munitions and supplies to the many military bases at the country's border. Its true purpose was to help the French army resist an eventual enemy onslaught, the said foe being, tacitly, the Third Reich. Eventually, the Maginot Line was disabled when the Germans took out, with their new bombers, the power lines that enabled the trains to function and that line of defense was consequently easily overrun and abandoned after the war.


End file.
